In a new interview with Andrew McKaysmith of the Scars And Guitars podcast, veteran metal bassist Steve DiGiorgio once again reflected on the experience of laying down his bass tracks on MEGADETH's latest album, "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!"

The longtime TESTAMENT bassist temporarily stepped in to record the bass tracks on MEGADETH's follow-up to 2016's "Dystopia" in the summer of 2021, shortly after the exit of David Ellefson. With the kick-off of MEGADETH's tour a couple of months later, MEGADETH alumnus James LoMenzo rejoined the MEGADETH family as permanent bass player.

Regarding his approach to laying down his bass tracks on the MEGADETH album, Steve said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I wasn't so naive that I thought I could go in there and reinvent MEGADETH. I knew strict guidelines. I'm redoing stuff that they've already lived with. There was a lot of things that I was already preparing myself to just go in, be professional and get it done. So it was a little bit of a surprise when Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader] would come to me and say, 'You know, this section right here needs a little animation. What do you got? Stretch out. Show me something. Play something.' And there was a few times he did that. And I had kind of committed myself to just paint by numbers and get it done nicely. And he was cool. There was some flexibility. Yeah, it was cool. Like I said, the margins were very tight. It was already done. It's MEGADETH. They have a formula."

DiGiorgio continued: "I got my chops up with a pick to make sure that I got the sound they're used to. I used both [my fingers and a pick], but the majority of the time was a pick. And Dave was cool, because there was some sections that were… When it's just really flying fast, I had a good feel and I could go. But when the string skipping, that's where I told him flat out, 'I'm not proficient here.' … And as long as it sounded good, he'd be okay. There wasn't a rule. So if it took me to do some technical stuff with my fingers, and it sounded fine, it was a keeper, but once in a while he would be, like, 'Hey, can you try that with a pick?' And I would just say, 'Man, I'm not flat-out proficient with this thing, and you're gonna have to give me a few tries to work up to it.' And he just looks at me and he goes, 'That's what's very admirable about you. You come in here being an almost-zero pick player and here you are grabbing it and fucking crushing through it.' And he goes, 'Take all the time you need. This is awesome. I'm watching you grow as a player.'

"I know bass players, sometimes there's wars — finger versus pick, whatever," Steve added. "To me, use what gets the job done. And I always enjoy using a pick. When SADUS would play, I'd pick a song in the set just to break one out for fun. I do it for TESTAMENT every night, so I've never been against it. So when the MEGADETH gig called, it was, like, 'Okay, here we go. I'd better get used to [playing with a pick].' … And so it was just a matter of being the most economic as possible and getting it done. But considering all that, he still created some space here and there to get some ideas from me and bounce ideas off each other. And sometimes we'd even just put the controller away and just kind of one-on-one, like, 'Oh, try this and try this.' And it was a little more creative and flexible than I thought it was [going to be], which turned out to be a really cool experience."

Asked if he ever had any conversations with Ellefson about his work on "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!", Steve said: "Yeah, I did. I finally got him one-on-one. His band DIETH… We were touring Europe — TESTAMENT and VOIVOD were touring Europe, and we picked up Ellefson's DIETH, we picked them up for a couple shows as an opener. And some of the soundchecks were done and people were going out for lunch or whatever, and the venue was real quiet. And I go, 'Dave, come in here, man.' I closed the door. And I said, 'All right. Tell me, what do you think? I'm here. What's up?' And I could see how he made it through that whole — what would you call it? — scandal and how he made it through that as a champ and how he took his exit from the band the way he did, because the way he just told me how he viewed it all happening, he just had a smile on his face and he gave me no heavy trip at all. And he's a very supportive, super fucking positive guy. I was ready for anything, and we just had a fucking awesome conversation. We had talked about me replacing his basslines very quickly, got that outta the way, and then the rest turned into just, like, 'Hey, what about Dave's tech Brian? He's a cool guy.' 'Yeah. Oh yeah.' 'Hey, did you go to that restaurant down the street?' 'Yeah.' And it just turned into this kind of camaraderie thing. And so, yeah, I was glad I did it… Even in this awkward situation, he embraces the future, man. And I was kind of inspired after. I'm, like, man, this guy had a lot hit him, and I'm the guy who came in [and replaced his tracks]. But there was a big gap of time from when he was out of the band until I came in. It wasn't this quick thing either. So in his mind, he was completely done and over and gone. And then the news about replacing the bass came out, and he's heard of me through all the TESTAMENT guys and stuff. So, yeah, we had no hatchet to bury or anything. He's a fucking pleasant guy. And it was cool to finally meet him, 'cause I know that my [TESTAMENT] guys — Chuck [Billy] and Alex [Skolnick] — played with him in METAL ALLEGIANCE, and they're really tight, and it's, like, we should get to know each other, 'cause our bands are always crossing paths and stuff. So it was really cool."

Back in April 2023, Steve told the "Into The Combine" podcast about how he approached his playing on "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!": "Riff-wise, you know the riff style, so it wasn't an over-the-top, brutal, technical death metal band that doesn't ever repeat any line. The riff information was in my wheelhouse, obviously, but what I realized is… From my background and my road that took me there, I wasn't equipped all the way to be in an arena that big. The pressure was huge. And maybe a lot of that was self-imposed, but that kept me on my best behavior. And I put my nose to the grindstone, and I wanted to leave a good mark. I wanted Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader] to be proud of his decision. He picked me, and he told me on the phone he didn't really have a list [of other bass players that he could reach out to]. He's, like, 'If you can't, I don't have the two and three written down.' He goes, 'I've gotta kind of start over.' And so I when I got off the phone, [I went], 'Holy shit. That's huge. I'm it.' So I tried to stop saying 'Why me?' and say, 'Okay. It's me. Let's go. Let's do this the right way.'"

Steve continued: "It was brutal. But the cool thing was [Dave] treated me awesomely. He gave me absolutely all the room to learn the stuff. I can't say I didn't hear the songs before I got [to the studio], because he did send me a folder and I could listen to the songs. Even just asking me to do it, they were already at that point, so it wasn't, like, 'Yeah, four months later we'll…' No. It was, like, 'As soon as you say 'Yeah', get here.' So I didn't have any time to sit down and work out anything. And I didn't really want to anyway. I mean, it's MEGADETH, so you weren't gonna get [DEATH's] 'Individual Thought Patterns' [-style playing] on that album. I'm not that naïve. I'm, like, 'I'm going in to do MEGADETH. I know more or less what he wants. He wants MEGADETH bass.' But he did choose me. So I'm, like, 'Let's see what he wants. So let me just go into this completely unprepared and see what he wants.' And he was fucking great.

"A lot of people — and I've heard it, and you probably have heard it; Dave [Mustaine] stories are out there and everything," DiGiorgio added. "My experience, I can't validate any of that, because I was in the studio for, like, 13 days and gone. And for every single day I was there, he was an awesome human being. We got along great. We played great. He pushed me and he pulled me, but when it was done, he let me know it was done. It was a big high five and a hug, and we had a celebratory meal. I wanted to cook for him, but when you're there doing bass, it's, like, you've gotta do bass. So one night I managed to… they were working on something else and I cooked something, so we had a nice DiGiorgio feast.

"But it went very well," Steve reiterated. "[Dave] was very generous, very gracious. He gave me space to do stuff. And I told him flat out: 'Look, I want to use a pick. I know I need to use a pick.' I said, 'But I'm not super proficient with it. It's not my strong point.' I'm not a predominantly pick player. I break one out on a TESTAMENT song here and there. It's more like a novelty. Well… there's a sonic benefit to it. There's a [TESTAMENT] song called 'Electric Crown'; it's just got this steady rock kind of thing. I [use a] pick on that one, and there's a couple of others here and there. So one percent of the time I use a pick. I use a pick for one song for just the effect of it, but very little. And I told [Dave] that. I said, 'Hopefully we don't have this big hole in the road or whatever.' And he said, 'However it comes out of you, that's what we need.' And so I did a little mixture. A lot of the speed stuff, I could get that thing going and then nail it down, and that was the majority of it… And he didn't stare at me or nothing, so sometimes I'd put the pick down and I'd play it, and I'd see that nod, like, 'Okay, that sounds good.' So there's a few parts on there where I got to do my thing like that. But that's how he was, like, 'Whatever works for you.' And so that whole, 'Was he a tyrant in the studio? Did he force you…? Did he make you…?' No, he was fucking great to work with. So it turned out to be cool. It was a fucking amazing experience. I had to pinch myself when I drove away from that studio, like, 'Holy crap. I did it. I made it out alive.' But that was self-imposed. I don't mean 'I made it out alive…' They made sure I stayed alive. They took great care of me. The management team, Dave, his engineer Chris and his assistant Brian there, everyone was awesome. And I've got nothing but good [things] to say about that session. It was, like I said, two weeks — in and out. But it went great."

When Mustaine first confirmed that DiGiorgio laid down the bass tracks on "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" in March 2022, he told SiriusXM Liquid Metal: "We obviously had that weird little… Well, it wasn't little, but we had something happen that we needed to make a decision on, and it kind of set us back a little bit timing-wise, because we needed to recalibrate and find someone to perform the bass parts. And we found someone that I thought was the perfect fit for us while I was trying to decide what to do."

He continued: "It was a good choice. I didn't think about anybody else at the time. I was thinking about 'who's the hottest guy out there that can play these new songs?' Because [Mustaine's son] Justis told me one of the fastest songs we've ever written is on this record. And I don't care what anybody says — bass may be less strings than a guitar, but it's difficult to play. If you're like me, I have a real hard time playing the bass. I can play it, and I wrote the riff for 'Peace Sells… But Who's Buying?', for Pete's sake, but, you know, having to jam some of those parts that fast, it just kills your fingers.

"It took a little bit of some getting to know each other," Mustaine added. "We hung out and had some meals. And he and Dirk [Verbeuren, MEGADETH drummer] and Kiko [Loureiro, then-MEGADETH guitarist] and [engineer] Chris Rakestraw got along really well. We had talked about what he was doing with TESTAMENT and stuff like that, and we just all kind of realized that it was perfect the way that it was, and now's time for me to find someone who's gonna join MEGADETH, and I'm not gonna hurt another band in the process."

There had been speculation about DiGiorgio's involvement in the new MEGADETH LP since July 2021, based on a Cameo video Mustaine recorded in which he offered the first glimpse of the bassist that re-recorded David Ellefson's bass tracks on the much-anticipated MEGADETH effort. In the clip, the MEGADETH guitarist/vocalist could be seen walking around a studio where he showed Rakestraw sitting behind the studio console as well as the mystery bassist "hiding behind the chair on the floor." Although it was impossible to tell who the bassist was based on the video, the musician appeared to be using the same brand of Ibanez bass played by DiGiorgio.

DiGiorgio is widely renowned as a pioneer on the fretless bass in heavy metal music, having played with TESTAMENT, DEATH and SADUS, among others. Within his genre, Steve is respected for his playing skills, versatility and incredible technique. He has more than 40 studio album recordings and over 20 years of touring the world.

Ellefson laid down his bass tracks on MEGADETH's sixteenth LP in May 2020 at a studio in Nashville, Tennessee. A short time later, he raved about his performance on the record, telling the 96.7 KCAL-FM radio program "Wired In The Empire" that his musical chemistry with Verbeuren was comparable to the interplay between Geddy Lee and Neil Peart on classic RUSH albums. "I feel like on the new MEGADETH record, me and Dirk have those same moments," he said. "It's MEGADETH — it's not RUSH, obviously — but in the field of what we do, there were these moments that I was just going, 'Oh, my God.' This is me as a kid going, 'This is my Geddy/Neil moment right here.'"

In June 2021, Mustaine announced during an episode of his Gimme Radio program "The Dave Mustaine Show" that Ellefson's bass tracks would not be used on the new MEGADETH LP.

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

In September 2022, TESTAMENT's Chuck Billy said that he didn't think DiGiorgio "would have lasted" very long as a member of MEGADETH had he been asked to join the band. Billy discussed DiGiorgio's involvement with the latest MEGADETH album during an appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". Asked if he was concerned that TESTAMENT might lose its bass player to MEGADETH, Chuck said: "Well, of course. We're definitely always concerned that… We've had so many lineup changes, it wouldn't faze us. But Steve's an important part of the band; he was a great addition when he came back. And we went through a lot together personally. So, of course, when you get the opportunity to play on it, and I'm sure they were courting him to join the band. I'm glad he made the decision to stay with us."

Billy continued: "I think his intentions always were just, 'I'll go record the record,' 'cause that's what Steve does — he plays on a lot of people's albums. So we kind of took it as that at first. And I thought, 'That's what he does.' 'Go for it, Steve. Just don't leave.' [Laughs] And I'm sure they asked him to join the band. And he decided, 'You know, I've been with my bros here for a long time. I'm gonna stick with my bros.'"

According to Chuck, Verbeuren "had a lot of influence getting Steve" the MEGADETH recording gig because Dirk is "really good friends with Steve and they've done a lot of projects together." However, Billy added that he doesn't "personally think Steve would have lasted in the band. I know Steve very well, and I know Dave [Mustaine] very well, and I'm sure the two worlds would have collided," Chuck said with a laugh.

In August 2022, Mustaine discussed his decision to hire DiGiorgio to lay down the bass tracks on "The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!" during an appearance on Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show. Asked what he appreciates most about DiGiorgio and LoMenzo musically and as people, Mustaine said: "I think that both of them are really fun people to be around. Although I didn't know Steve DiGiorgio as much as I know James LoMenzo, I found him to be just as enjoyable to be around as James was."

Referencing the fact that Ellefson was fired from the band in May 2021, just days after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter, Mustaine said: "I think the band and everybody that's associated with us, that period that we went through was a little touchy. So we wanted to do the right thing. And trying to find the replacement for anybody, I think, wasn't the right thing to do at the time because nobody really knew all the facts and I certainly didn't want to poach anybody. Not from TESTAMENT — they're my friends — and I don't think from anybody."

Mustaine, who was a member of METALLICA for 11 months before being fired in 1983, continued: "As great as Steve is, I remember what it felt like when we [METALLICA] went up and poached Cliff [Burton] from TRAUMA. I mean, granted, the band TRAUMA wasn't that good, but there are still guys in the band and their lives were changed when that happened.

"I tend to believe that… You've gotta ask yourself, 'Did he jump or was he pushed?' And I like to make sure, if I was gonna hire somebody, that I wasn't stealing him from anybody."

Rock band PLUSH has released its latest single "Why", a track that was co-written and co-produced by PLUSH singer Moriah Formica, DISTURBED frontman David Draiman, along with Johnny K. Following the release of PLUSH's live album, "Why" lets the band explore sonically while still paying homage to their signature hard rock sound that fans know and love.

Formica says: "We live in challenging times. That reality has often left me feeling deeply empty and hopeless. 'Why' is a song that conveys that sentiment."

On collaborating with Draiman and Johnny K, Formica notes: "Writing this with David Draiman was an amazing experience. It was also special to be able to co-produce with Johnny K, who was instrumental in helping to launch DISTURBED and PLUSH, so there was a familiar energy throughout the process."

Catch PLUSH on the "Edge Of Destruction" tour this summer. The band will be touring the U.S., starting on July 18 in New Bedford, Massachusetts at The Vault. The "Edge Of Destruction" tour goes through September and ends in Hampton, New Hampshire on September 25 at Wally's. PLUSH has meet-and-greets available for the tour.

PLUSH is a rock band with a mission to bring rock back to the forefront of the music industry. The band is composed of talented young women, ranging from ages 20 to 23, whose accomplishments and talent eclipse their age. PLUSH is fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Moriah Formica, and is rounded out by bassist Ashley Suppa and drummer Faith Powell.

Earlier this month, guitarist Bella Perron exited PLUSH, claiming in a social media statement that "the morals of the band and affiliated parties do not align with my own, and I feel it is best to take a step away." The remaining members of PLUSH issued a separate statement saying that they "learned of Bella's departure the same way you did: from social media. Though we are absolutely heartbroken and shocked by the news, we wish her the best in her future endeavors."

PLUSH also clarified the lyrical inspiration for "Why" in light of some of the early criticism the band received for collaborating with Draiman, who has been vocal about his pro-Israel stance in the country's military campaign in Gaza.

"The anger, divisiveness, and speculation within the past 24 hours over the announcement of our new single, is the reason behind why the song was written," PLUSH wrote on social media. "'Why' is about the importance of unity in the face of oppression and hatred.

"This song is not political. It is not about war, religion, or erasing anybody's perspective or opinions. PLUSH welcomes all different types of beliefs and perspectives in our band and in our fan base. We will continue to use our platform to stand AGAINST hate towards any race, sexuality, gender, or religion.

"Our song was made to question the darkest sides of humanity, and encourage you to educate yourself on the atrocities being committed around the world. Speak out for what you believe in. Stand up for those who don't have a voice and stand for change. The future is in our hands."

Michigan rockers I PREVAIL have released a new single, "Into Hell", via Fearless Records. The track arrives alongside a new music video directed by George Gallardo Kattah.

I PREVAIL frontman Eric Vanlerberghe stated about the track: "This song is about loving someone through their lows and struggles. Being there to take their burdens. Loving them through everything because that's what they do for you."

Last month, I PREVAIL released another new single, "Violent Nature", along with a music video directed by Orie McGinness.

Vanlerberghe described "Violent Nature" as "aggressive, fast, and heavy. All packed into two minutes and 10 seconds. Turn it up and put your head through the fucking wall."

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

I PREVAIL released its latest album, "True Power", in 2022 via Fearless Records. It was followed by a sold out, two-leg tour across the U.S. and Canada.

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

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

I PREVAIL is:

Eric Vanlerberghe - Vocals
Steven Menoian - Guitar
Gabe Helguera - Drums
Dylan Bowman - Guitar
Jon Eberhard - Bass

Photo credit: Reilly Clark

MÖTLEY CRÜEwill release a new compilation, "From The Beginning", on September 12 on CD and vinyl via BMG.

"From The Beginning" spans four decades of CRÜE anthems, kicking off with the band's first global single and MTV video "Live Wire" and winding through the years to 2024's Top 5 rock smash "Dogs Of War". In between are the hits and fan favorites that shaped the rock genre and a generation, including "Kickstart My Heart", "Dr. Feelgood", "Girls, Girls, Girls", "Shout at the Devil", "Smokin' In The Boys Room", "Wild Side" and many more. It includes a stunning new version of the band's revered classic "Home Sweet Home", reimagined as a heartfelt duet with none other than globally beloved superstar Dolly Parton.

The CD version of "From The Beginning" features 19 tracks, while the vinyl has been expanded to 21 songs, including "Afraid" and the title track of last year's "Cancelled" EP.

CD track listing:

01. Live Wire
02. Take Me To The Top
03. Shout At The Devil [remastered - 2021]
04. Looks That Kill [remastered - 2021]
05. Too Young To Fall In Love [remastered - 2021]
06. Smokin' In The Boys Room [remastered - 2021]
07. Home Sweet Home [remastered - 2021]
08. Girls, Girls, Girls
09. Wild Side
10. Dr. Feelgood
11. Without You
12. Kickstart My Heart
13. Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
14. Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)
15. Primal Scream
16. The Dirt (Est. 1981)
17. Saints of Los Angeles
18. Dogs Of War
19. Home Sweet Home (feat. Dolly Parton)

2LP track listing:

Side A

01. Live Wire
02. Take Me To The Top
03. Shout at the Devil [remastered -2021]
04. Looks That Kill [remastered - 2021]
05. Too Young To Fall In Love [remastered -2021]
06. Smokin' In The Boys Room [remastered -2021]

Side B

01. Home Sweet Home [remastered -2021]
02. Girls, Girls, Girls
03. Wild Side
04. Dr. Feelgood
05. Without You

Side C

01. Kickstart My Heart
02. Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)
03. Same Ol' Situation (S.O.S.)
04. Primal Scream
05. Afraid *

Side D

01. Saints of Los Angeles
02. The Dirt (Est. 1981)
03. Dogs Of War
04. Cancelled *
05. Home Sweet Home (feat. Dolly Parton)

* LP-only tracks

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx and guitarist John 5 made guest appearances on "Bygones", a song from Parton's "Rockstar" album.

"Bygones", which also features JUDAS PRIEST's Rob Halford, debuted atop the Mediabase Classic Rock Songs chart in June 2023.

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

Last October, MÖTLEY CRÜE released the "Cancelled" EP, featuring the title track, MÖTLEY CRÜE's cover version of the BEASTIE BOYS classic "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!)" and "Dogs Of War". All three songs were recorded in April 2023 with longtime producer Bob Rock.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's deal with Big Machine sees the band and the label working together again after making the 2014 project "Nashville Outlaws: A Tribute To Mötley Crüe", which featured CRÜE tracks covered by country stars RASCAL FLATTS, FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE, Darius Rucker and more. Big Machine also partnered with John 5 for the release of his 2021 album "Sinner".

MÖTLEY CRÜE's last studio album was 2008's "Saints Of Los Angeles", which was followed by a 2009 "Greatest Hits" compilation.

In 2018, MÖTLEY CRÜE recorded four new songs for "The Dirt" movie, including the single "The Dirt (Est. 1981) (Feat. Machine Gun Kelly)", "Ride With The Devil", "Crash And Burn" and the band's own spin on Madonna's "Like A Virgin".

Dolly Parton photo courtesy of True Public Relations

RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW!
Motley Crue | From the Beginning
$35
Comment below to reserve your copy....

Posted by Big Love Vinyl on Thursday, June 19, 2025

THE HALO EFFECT, the project featuring five former members of the Swedish metal band IN FLAMES — Jesper Strömblad (guitar),Daniel Svensson (drums),Peter Iwers (bass),Niclas Engelin (guitar) and Mikael Stanne (vocals) — has released a powerful interpretation of DANZIG's iconic track "How The Gods Kill".

THE HALO EFFECT brings a new weight and urgency to the track, which originally appeared on DANZIG's classic 1992 album "Danzig III: How The Gods Kill", while preserving the brooding mystique of the original. With soaring guitar harmonies, thunderous rhythm, and Stanne's commanding vocals, THE HALO EFFECT reinvents the classic through the lens of the Gothenburg sound.

This cover version was handpicked by Stanne, who said: "During my teenage years, the darkness and allure of the early DANZIG albums introduced me to a whole new way of thinking about what rock and metal could be. Glenn's [Danzig] vocals and lyrics were also incredibly influential on this aspiring vocalist/lyricist."

THE HALO EFFECT's second album, "March Of The Unheard", came out in January via Nuclear Blast Records.

Shortly after "March Of The Unheard"'s release, THE HALO EFFECT embarked on its first-ever headline tour in Europe. Industrial outfit and labelmates PAIN were special guest on this tour and to round up this great package, melo-death shooting stars from Finland BLOODRED HOURGLASS joined as support.

In a recent interview with Belgian Jasper, Iwers was asked if he and his THE HALO EFFECT bandmates were thinking at all, prior to the release of the group's debut album, 2022's "Days Of The Lost", about the reaction from IN FLAMES fans, considering that THE HALO EFFECT features five former members of IN FLAMES. He responded: "Well, we were reminded a lot. 'Don't forget that you all played together at one point' or 'you played in this band', and it's, like, we know, but that's not why we started THE HALO EFFECT. We started THE HALO EFFECT because we wanted to play together again, and some of us have never played together, and, obviously, this constellation has never played together. I knew there would be a lot of comparisons and there would be talks about rivalry and stuff like that. And if you know me and you know people around me, you know that there's no such thing as rivalry. I try to get along with everybody, and this is the case with IN FLAMES as well."

He continued: "There's no rivalry; there's no stuff like that. Let's just like get that out of the way. I still run a restaurant with Björn [Gelotte, IN FLAMES guitarist]. We still talk to each other a bunch of times every week and all that stuff. But with that said, when the album was out and that the feedback was so positive, I guess without thinking about it, without having any expectations, kind of like now [as we prepare for the release of the second THE HALO EFFECT album, 'March Of The Unheard'] — the music's done; I'm happy, I'm not nervous. Of course, when the actual response comes, if it's possible, I will always go, 'Ah, thank god.' But at that point, we were just happy because before 'Days Of The Lost' was out, we actually had it ready for about two years. We formed the band just before the pandemic hit, and then we were able to sit in the studio and in the rehearsal spaces and all those places to write music and take our sweet time. And then when we were done and we were ready to release it, we had to wait another year and a half or so before the actual plan could be started. And this time around we had songs that were written along the way and we had to schedule the studio time in a little bit more than before and kind of go in and focus more. But there was no stress. There was nothing like that. So I'm very eager to get the music out there. I'm not nervous. There will be some comparisons, of course, to IN FLAMES, as always, but also to the first record, as it should be. I'm just happy to get the music out. I've gotta say that."

"Days Of The Lost" entered the official chart in Sweden in the summer of 2022 at position No. 1. This was believed to be the first time a debut LP from a metal act had ever topped the chart in Sweden in its first week of release. "Days Of The Lost" also landed at No. 6 in Germany.

Asked in a June 2022 interview with Australia's "Scars And Guitars" podcast if he would agree that "Days Of The Lost" is, in some ways, a "spiritual successor" to "Reroute To Remain", IN FLAMES' sixth album, which came out in 2002, Peter said: "Ooh, interesting. I haven't really thought about it. When you make music, like we do, you tend not to overthink stuff — you just go in and you write music and kind of know that what comes out will sound a certain way because of the style that we are playing and how we are playing and performing our music. So I haven't really thought about it, but maybe — maybe. It was definitely nothing intentional. We just went in. We had a bunch of ideas and we came out with a bunch of songs that happen to sound a certain way. But none of us really overthought it and it was never meant to 'it's gonna sound like this' or 'it's gonna sound like that.' We just [went], 'Let's write this music and see what happens.' And because of, like I said, how we're playing, it will sound a certain way."

Added Daniel: "A lot of people like to analyze music, and, of course, it sounds Gothenburg metal-ish because we all are from that genre and we are some of the people that kind of created it. So, of course, it will sound Gothenburg metal-ish, IN FLAMES-ish. And then which era, I don't know. And as Peter said, we don't really think about how it should sound. This is how we sound today, and with our legacy this is inevitable, that we sound as we do."

Continued Peter: "Obviously, people like to do a lot of comparing between us… It's a difficult topic to discuss because none of us have — even though we've all been in IN FLAMES at some point, none of us have really thought about this as what you're saying. But then a lot of people that we speak to say it. So it's a little hard to take in, as we've been very thorough in just writing music. But I'd say it's a little flattering to hear it."

Photo credit: Linda Florin (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)

Canadian rockers THREE DAYS GRACE have launched arguably their biggest anthem yet with the release of "Dominate" today, across all digital stream platforms. The track is taken from THREE DAYS GRACE's eighth album, "Alienation", which will arrive on August 22 via RCA Records.

For the first time in over a decade, original THREE DAYS GRACE frontman Adam Gontier is back, joining Matt Walst on vocals along with Neil Sanderson (drums),Brad Walst (bass) and Barry Stock (guitars).

Matt Walst states: "This song's about the fire that wakes you up when the world doesn't. The sun doesn't rise or set for you — it just keeps spinning. If you want something, really want it, you've gotta bleed for it. You've gotta be willing to give up everything — sleep, comfort, peace — just to get a shot at being the best. I've lived that. I've felt the weight of proving myself when no one thought I could. But when you've got something to prove and nothing left to lose? That's when you're at your most dangerous."

He continues: "'Dominate' isn't just a word — it's a mindset. You take the hits. You push through the pain. You don't wait — you take what's yours. That's how I see it. That's how I live it. This one's for anyone who's ever been counted out — and came back to own it all."

The twelve tracks on "Alienation" all play a pivotal role in defining this significantly new-but-nostalgic chapter of the band.

Sanderson comments: "'Alienation' is a journey through inner collapse and outward defiance. The songs reflect isolation as a condition of existence, not just circumstance. Some of what we write about — anxiety, addiction, heartbreak, disconnect — are often a different wave of the same storm. And yet buried in all the wreckage is something human — still reaching out."

"Alienation" track listing:

01. Dominate
02. Apologies
03. Mayday
04. Kill Me Fast
05. In Waves
06. Alienation
07. Never Ordinary (ft. Lindsey Stirling)
08. Deathwish
09. Don't Wanna Go Home Tonight
10. In Cold Blood
11. The Power
12. Another Relapse

Last November, THREE DAYS GRACE released "Mayday", the first single since the return of Gontier. A follow-up single, "Apologies", arrived in May.

In an interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, Sanderson stated about how the band's new two-singer arrangement came together:  "First and foremost, we're a family. We all grew up together in a small town, and so Matt, who came in 2013 to replace Adam, he's been in the band for, yeah, 12 years now. But he's Brad, our bass player's younger brother. So he was around as a kid when we were first just jamming in basements and trying to figure out our sound as we were teenagers, and he wasn't even a teenager. And so for him to come in was just a very natural fit. And then, as time progressed on, we just started having open conversations, which is the notion of, like, what would this be if we joined forces and we become a five-piece? And it creates a completely new dimension and facet for the sound of THREE DAYS GRACE and our ability to artistically branch off into just different things that we can do with having two voices that are uniquely different, but come together in such a powerful way. So it feels like we've kind of come full circle and we've closed this loop. And it's just fate, I guess, that we're all seeing eye to eye now and the band sounds bigger than ever. And, yeah, it's a great time to just see it all come into one full force moving forward."

Regarding the musical direction of the upcoming THREE DAYS GRACE album and how "Mayday" fits into that, Neil said: "It's definitely dynamic. 'Mayday' was a song that we — I guess we were pulling some inspiration from our [2006] record 'One-X' with songs like 'Animal I Have Become' and things like that, where it's a really driving-force song. The lyrics are really a social commentary about how sometimes you feel in life that you're like hurling at just warp speed through time and space and you don't quite know who's at the wheel… It feels like everything can be in fast forward and sensory overload, which isn't always healthy for the human brain. And basically just making the decision whether you're gonna swim against the current or whether you're gonna fall in line with other people, and making those choices on a daily basis. So that's what that song's about. The rest of the record, we have a lot of really heavy moments. We do love sort of down tempo heaviness. I mean, we listen to a lot of PANTERA and stuff like that, and that is contrasted with some songs that I think are really going to bring out the emotion, because they're emotional to us. And I think that's the strongest connection with THREE DAYS GRACE and our fans, is that we're writing from the heart and from the gut and deep down in the psyche and putting it out into song. And when people can relate to that and see their own lives in that music, then that's the most powerful thing you can have as an artist. So there's a lot of that where we stay true to ourselves and we're not afraid to write about the real deep down stuff. And that seems to always resonate with our fans because it's coming from a real place."

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

In a recent interview with Nik Nocturnal, Adam was asked how it feels to be back in THREE DAYS GRACE after such a long absence. He responded: "Well, I think more excitement than anything, man. 'Cause it's just been so long. And it just felt like the right time — it felt like the right time for everybody. So, yeah, just excitement and kind of ready to go."

He continued: "It took a little while to connect with the guys and do a couple shows together, a couple things, but, yeah — just more excitement than anything, and definitely some nostalgia, obviously. But, yeah, I think everybody's really, really excited about this next chapter. It's gonna be quite the year, I think."

Regarding the prospect of sharing lead vocals with Matt in THREE DAYS GRACE's new lineup, Adam said: "Yeah, I was just talking with somebody about that. We got sort of — not lucky, but our voices do blend really well together. And we've noticed it obviously way more now with making the record and recording and all this stuff that, yeah, our voices really blend well. Yeah, so we're fortunate for that, that it's working out the way we had hoped."

Gontier added: "It's been great, man. It's cool. Matt grew up with the band. He's Brad's little brother, and I knew Matt from when he was just a little guy. So I think for them it was a natural fit to get him to take my spot there. And, yeah, now [we're just, like] — let's do it together."

Asked how he and Matt delegate the vocal responsibilities on THREE DAYS GRACE's new material, including "Mayday", Adam said: "Yeah, that's what we've been doing. I mean, we're all sort of writing the new stuff together, so we've been sitting in a room together, coming up with all this material and stuff… We're in a room together and coming up with all that stuff… But yeah, I think the recording of vocals, who's gonna sing what and where, it's come pretty natural. There's certain parts that we both now know, like, 'It might make more sense for me to sing this part or you to sing this part.' And at the same time, working with a couple of different producers on stuff, we did get some guys that would have some good input and just a good idea of what to do with two singers, 'cause it hasn't really been done before — not in this world. So we wanna make sure we're doing it right. So getting an outside point of view from a producer or something to put his two cents on where the guys should go and that sort of thing, that's helped out a lot too. But, yeah, in general, it's been pretty seamless. The whole thing has been really easy to navigate through."

"Mayday" was produced by Zakk Cervini and Dan Lancaster with vocal production by Howard Benson. In addition, the band released an epic CiRCUS HEaD-directed visual to accompany the track which can be found below.

In a December 2024 interview with "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, Adam was asked if "Mayday" is a good representation of the material that would appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's next studio album. He responded: "I think it's pretty close. I think it was pretty important for us to sort of get some elements in these songs that were super classic THREE DAYS GRACE with some newer elements as well. So I think 'Mayday' is a good representation of that. It's a pretty heavy song, but it's got everything else that we wanted to have in there. So, yeah, I think it's pretty close."

Asked if there was ever any doubt "Mayday" would be the first song to introduce this iteration of the band, Matt said: "We found with 'Mayday' — we listened to, obviously, our ideas and our songs a lot, and with 'Mayday', we kind of all found we never got sick of it. Personally, too, I listened to it over and over again, and I didn't get sick of it. And it takes you on this kind of journey throughout it, and it's not super predictable. And, yeah, [we] just found it was fresh."

Matt also talked about how the idea for having two singers in THREE DAYS GRACE came about. He said: "I think one day I just talked to my brother Brad about it and was, like, 'It'd be sick if Adam came back. And we could both sing, and I can sing the songs of the past 10 years and Adam can even sing a few of those too.' And yeah, it just seems like a new life to breathe into THREE DAYS GRACE and to make it exciting, like the early days or just to freshen it up and, yeah, make it exciting."

In a separate interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Neil stated about Adam's return to THREE DAYS GRACE: "We had been talking and we've kept in touch. And the band was just talking about, like, how great would this be for us and for the fans and for the nostalgia of THREE DAYS GRACE. And then he got up on stage with us [for a guest appearance], and then we just thought, 'Let's make something new. Let's sit down and write a song.' And once we kind of got into that songwriting process, it just felt really natural and it felt right. And I think for the fans, we're giving them something that we haven't done before and hasn't really been done much in the past."

On the topic of the "Mayday" video, Neil said: "It was a really fun video to make. It was kind of especially cool for me because very rarely as a drummer do you get to make a video where you don't have to fake playing drums all day. [Laughs] And so, yeah, complete melee goes on on the plane. And it's kind of an analogy to just feeling like we're hurling through life at warp speed, and sometimes it doesn't feel like there is a pilot that's in control of things. But it's also a bit of a celebration, like, 'Hey, if we're going down, we're all going down together.'"

In April 2023, Gontier reunited with THREE DAYS GRACE onstage during the band's concert in Huntsville, Alabama. Gontier rejoined his former bandmates when they opened for SHINEDOWN at the Probst Arena At The Von Braun Center to perform two classic songs from THREE DAYS GRACE's 2006 album "One-X": "Never Too Late" and "Riot".

THREE DAYS GRACE later shared a post-performance photo with Gontier on social media and wrote in an accompanying message: "Soooo we did a thing."

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

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

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

Gontier is currently a member of SAINT ASONIA, which also features STAIND guitarist/founding member Mike Mushok. The quartet is rounded out by Cale Gontier (bass) and Cody Watkins (drums).

Photo credit: Matt Barnes

‪HELLOWEEN‬ vocalist Andi Deris spoke to Finland's Chaoszine about the band's upcoming album, "Giants & Monsters", which will be released on August 29 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The follow-up to HELLOWEEN's self-titled record was mixed at the legendary Wisseloord Studios (IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, DEF LEPPARD) in Hilversum, Netherlands. Asked if he and his bandmates felt any pressure making "Giants & Monsters", Andi said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "So, for the last album, yes. For this album, me personally, I did not feel any pressure because I think we proved ourselves, if there was anything we could prove, on the previous album. So that was probably the most anticipated thing. Would the boys fuck up or would it be a good album? I think it was a good album. Because in several countries it went Number One does not mean especially that it's a good album. But people weren't super nosy and bought it anyway. [Laughs] No, I personally did not feel any pressure for this upcoming album."

When the interviewer noted that it was probably a "more relaxed" process this time around, Andi clarified: "I wouldn't say relaxed, but this pressure was not on the shoulders to prove something. So, that was proven already. And so it was just back to the hobby — write songs, have fun with it, and I think that's a recipe for a good album, if you ask me."

Asked if all the touring HELLOWEEN had done in support of the self-titled effort had somehow affected the sound of the new songs, Andi said: "In my case, maybe, because we talked about that a few hours ago, and I thought, it's very interesting because there was this question, how do you come up with the ideas? And they were like pretty tricked about the 'Giants & Monsters' theme, which sounds a bit comic but at the end of the day is very deep, because we're talking about the giants we could be and the monsters we have to fight against in our lives again and again and again.

"The new album, I think, is so much more hobby-driven," Deris continued. "At least I was reminded at my very early days when I started out as a songwriter and just did it because I loved to do it and I did not even know if there's somebody who would ever listen to it because I recorded it on a tape, like these little cassette tapes back in the days. And so I had two tape players, and when you recorded on that one, you had to sing or play your guitar on to that, and again back, you could take another sound or another guitar or another instrument. So at the end of the day, you had to cross it six, seven times and the quality was horrible and made a lot of noise, but somewhere you heard the music. [Laughs] And I was so proud, because I finished my first song. It was still my first song, even though it was noisy and bad quality, but I never forget that feeling of having done my first song. The only guy who ever listened to it was myself. I was proud of myself, loved what I did, and I wanted to have it again and again and again and again. That's something that came back for this production for me. Because I knew nobody's forcing me to write in a lot of songs, because [there are] lots of boys here who can write great songs. So I was just happy to be without responsibility."

The official music video for "This Is Tokyo", which is the first single from "Giants & Monsters", can be seen below. The powerful four-minute anthem features vocalists Deris and Michael Kiske.

The song holds personal significance for Deris, who previously said: "I've always wanted to write this song. Japan plays a special role in my life because I had my first big successes there. I wanted to create a tribute to Japan for a while now and finally found the right lyrics. Because 'Tokyo' sounds better than 'Japan,' the city stands for a whole country that is very important to me."

HELLOWEEN will celebrate four decades of metal mastery with a global 40th anniversary tour. The European leg begins in mid-October, with initial dates selling out quickly and additional shows in Madrid and Bochum already on sale. Featuring an ultimate set list packed with surprises, the tour will showcase the band's unparalleled legacy and ongoing creative power.

"Giants & Monsters" pushes the boundaries of HELLOWEEN's sound, thanks to the instincts of producers Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, as well as the band's relentless pursuit of excellence. Per example, drummer Dani Löble recorded all tracks using three different drum kits to capture the perfect vibe for each song, a testament to their attention to detail and love of experimentation.

The band's chemistry continues to drive their success. "What keeps motivating us is the fact that we're extremely different. It generates creative energy," said guitarist Michael Weikath. Guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen added: "We try not to take ourselves and everything around us too seriously." Deris summed it up: "In the end, we're just seven guys who want to make music and enjoy the incomparable force that arises when we're together. HELLOWEEN is way more powerful than the sum of its parts."

"Giants & Monsters" track listing:

01. Giants On The Run
02. Saviour Of The World
03. A Little Is A Little Too Much
04. We Can Be Gods
05. Into The Sun
06. This Is Tokyo
07. Universe (Gravity For Hearts)
08. Hand Of God
09. Under The Moonlight
10. Majestic

In a recent interview with Hakos Pervanidis of the Metal Hammer Greece TV program TV War, Deris and Hansen were asked if they would agree that "Giants & Monsters" sounds "more focused and direct" than 2021's self-titled effort. Hansen said: "Yeah, I would agree. I mean, we have diversity, but we've grown together as HELLOWEEN and the individual members, so you could hear the differences between the songs and the songwriters still, but there's a straight red line. And we're more connected now."

Deris chimed in: "So far I'm happy to say that there were lots of little things being put into your song by the other guys, which was much easier this time. Honestly, we had so much more time, actually, so everybody had tons of time to listen to each and everybody's tracks and come up with own ideas. Kai, for example, he added I would say a whole new song into my song. 'Giants On The Run', the whole middle part is a new song which Kai put in, and it's just perfect; it fits. That's something I love and I always wanted to have, but, honestly, back in the day, like [on] the [previous] album, everybody was minding his own business. You have to write super songs for the new upcoming album and the expectations are so high because Michael [Kiske, HELLOWEEN singer] and Kai are back. And so there was no mindset to actually put your shit into the other songs and vice versa. And this time it just played out easily because the pressure was gone. I think when you just had such a successful album, it takes away so much pressure because you know you were on the right track. So play with it. Don't stress it. Just play with it. And that was a lot of fun."

Regarding the "Giants & Monsters" album title, Deris said: "The first title says it all. It's 'Giants On The Run', and it talks about us as mankind. We are actually giants. We are gods inside. But then you could come up with a conspiracy theory. Are we on purpose, purposely put down that the god side, that giant thing that we all have inside, is not allowed to express itself or to come out? But at the end of the day, everybody, each and every individual I know, they are much bigger inside with their dreams, with their possibilities they would like to have, than they're actually allowed to have or allowed to be in our society. And there you could come up with that conspiracy theory. Are we held down on purpose? I personally think when I listen to my inside, I know everybody from the band and all my friends I know, they're so much bigger inside. They're great, great people. And they have great ideas, but in our world, you're not allowed to express it."

Kai added: "It takes all efforts. You have to fight the monsters. That's the point. And I think the title leaves a lot room a for interpretation. You could say the giants is your great ideas that you might have, your aims, your goals. But then here come the monsters, the demons you have to fight and everyday struggle. Then you could go to the Anunnaki, the return of the gods from outer space, giant people and so on. There's a lot of room for fantasy, I think."

Andi continued: "But I just went back also to the Bible. I said, 'Okay, look, it's even written in the Bible.' There were giants walking on earth, and who says that the giants are not still here in ourselves? I mean, we are still the giants, and as Kai said, you constantly have to fight the demons, the monsters in your life. And I thought that's a super metaphor. And I think everybody knows what I'm talking about because sometimes when you're with yourself thinking about yourself, your own life, you realize you would be much more if only you are allowed to be."

Asked if HELLOWEEN purposely approached songwriting this time around in a way where the vocals and the first chorus come in very early in each song, Andi said: "Yes and no. I mean, honestly, if it would destroy the song, I'd rather not, me personally. I think everybody in the band would agree, because if the song yells for it and shouts for it — keep it short; otherwise it's getting boring — then I keep it short.

Hansen added: "It's good to have that on the commercial tracks, all the — how do you say it? — the hit singles. It's very hard. Personally, I don't mind if it takes longer to go into the chorus if it makes sense for a song. So there is no general thought or rule when you approach songwriting to say, 'Oh, no, the chorus has to come after one minute or so.'"

Deris continued: "If we talk about looking what the commercial side would be, and back in the days, I remember you've been forced by the record company to put it short into maximum three-minute songs because otherwise it couldn't be a single. Fuck it. I mean, honestly, no. If I have to keep it short, then probably, because I'm a stubborn asshole, I would do the opposite. But nobody tells me what to do, so I just personally write the way I feel. But then again, it's very important, when we have guys in the band who say, 'This is a great song, and I could hear it even better when we not keep it that short.' For example, 'Giants On The Run'. [Kai's] part is at least three minutes and stretches the song to eight minutes something, which used to be something like round five minutes, and it's totally worth it. But if it's not worth it, why would you? That was another question: 'Do you always have to write these long songs?' And Kai said, 'No.' It's just what it is. When you're in the process of songwriting and it yells for another part and here's an idea, and yeah, I could do this lyrics, so I need another part, otherwise the story is not round, and maybe you end up with 10 or 12 minutes."

Hansen added: "And it's fun to do those long songs. To me, it's fun. It's a kind of challenge, but I don't do it on purpose to say, 'I need a long song.' It's just if the song gives it to you, then you do it."

Deris explained: "And if the story is two sheets of paper. You can't possibly put all the lyrics in a three-minute song; that's not possible. So then you've got different feelings depending on the lyrics itself. Suddenly there's a romantic section, for example. Ah, yeah, definitely you have to go down and do something romantic around it arrangement-wise. You probably cannot go all metally with that romantic thing. And so it cries, it, it yells, it shouts for another part."

On the topic of how they balance fans' expectations with being creative and trying new things with their music, Hansen said: "It's a challenge and it's always like a walk on the edge. Because if you consider that you want people to be pleased with what you're doing, but on the other hand, when you do your thing, you should not consider that. You should not write with that purpose in mind, because, first of all, you have to be a fan of what you're doing. To me, it's a very egoistic process. I write for myself, and I want to be a fan of what I'm doing. And then I'm glad if other people think so too."

Deris added: "Yeah, that's my way too. I don't wanna say I don't give a fuck, but when you are writing, there should be nothing in the back of your mind. It's just you and your music. And as Kai said, if you goosebump goes up, it's great for yourself, first of all. And then when you finish the song, on the second thought or second guess would be, 'Would they like it out there?' But during the songwriting process, it's not important. You are important because you have to actually give your thoughts, your feelings into whatever you do in the very moment. And yes, sometimes it's not good enough that the people would say, 'Yeah, I love it.' But I always say that the possibility that I am completely happy with my song and my goosebump goes up, considering myself a super-normal guy, so when I say I love it, my goosebumps go up, because I consider myself a mediocre guy, I would say the normal person out there would feel the same [as] I do. That's what I always hope."

Hansen continued: "You develop a feeling. I mean, when you write a song, and you trust yourself, if you like it, then there will be a lot of others that would like it too."

Deris concurred, saying: "No guarantee, but that's the way to work."

"Helloween" was the first HELLOWEEN album to feature the band's expanded lineup, consisting of returning singer Michael Kiske and Hansen along with Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble.

Upon its release in June 2021, "Helloween" landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. The cover artwork for the LP was painted by artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.

Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, the last HELLOWEEN LP was recorded in part at the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984). The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" was utilized to record the band's new material. The effort was mixed at the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, RAMMSTEIN).

"Helloween" saw the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analog and Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings.

HELLOWEEN released a new live album, "Live At Budokan", on December 13, 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The colossal effort immortalized HELLOWEEN's September 16, 2023 performance at Tokyo's legendary Nippon Budokan.

"Live At Budokan" was made available in a plethora of formats: 2CD-digipak and 3LP vinyl in trifold with the first print run of both coming as "deluxe edition" including embossed cover artwork, as well as Blu-ray, DVD and digital. Each version is meticulously crafted to suit the metal community's diverse tastes, ensuring every fan can relive the raw, unfiltered energy of HELLOWEEN in their preferred medium.

This release celebrated the grand finale of HELLOWEEN's epic world tour from 2022 to 2023. Spanning over 30 countries on three continents, the tour was nothing short of a triumph, drawing massive crowds and showcasing the band's undying appeal, the sold-out concert in Tokyo is the crowning glory of the cycle.

HELLOWEEN is:

Michael Kiske - vocals
Andi Deris - vocals
Kai Hansen - guitars, vocals
Michael Weikath - guitars
Sascha Gerstner - guitars
Markus Grosskopf - bass
Daniel Löble - drums

Photo credit: Mathias Bothor

In a new interview with Ned of Iowa's Rock 108 radio station, EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee spoke about the band's current lineup, which features Emma Anzai of SICK PUPPIES on bass and EVANESCENCE's longtime bassist Tim McCord on guitar. Regarding how Emma came to join EVANESCENCE, Amy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I have been her fan for a million years. We really got to know each other in 2007. We've known each other forever. We toured together back then on the same tour. [SICK PUPPIES] were opening for us, and we really hung out and really made friends on a deeper level, especially back then. But still, women in heavy music are a pretty tight-knit group, 'cause there aren't that many of us still. There's more and more and more, which is amazing, but especially back then, it was just this rare bird to see in the wild and be, like, 'Hey, come here. You're one of me. Can we talk for a second?' So me and Emma became friends right away."

Amy continued: "She's extremely talented, extremely professional. She is in it for playing the bass. [She's an] incredible stage performer. Everything about her — I just love Emma. And we talked over the years about, 'Wouldn't it be cool to have a side band?' just with all the chicks, the whole thing. And that never worked out, but I just always wanted to work together. And we were finally in a position where it was, like, we needed somebody. And I called her first. I was, like, 'Hey.' Well, first of all, I was, like, 'Would you play guitar?' And she's, like, 'No. I'm a bass player.' And I spoke to Tim, and he was, like, 'Oh my God. This is what I want. I've been wanting to switch it up. Guitar is my original instrument. This is perfect. I need a change. And nobody's better than Emma. And I would be very critical of any bass player after playing bass in this band for that many years.' So it was just a very came-together-perfectly moment. And we've all just felt blessed by her presence. I have a real, a true sister in the band. It's been great. We're a good team. And Emma kicks ass. So that has been a huge bonus for us. We feel complete at this point."

Back in 2023, Emma told Bass Magazine about how she landed the gig with EVANESCENCE: "It was quite the surprise when it happened. When they needed a bass player after Tim switched from bass to guitar, I got the call and agreed to join them. SICK PUPPIES had toured with them long ago for one of our first tours, and I remember Amy being super cool. She's still the same now with support bands, the crews, and everyone she comes in contact with. I always remember that, because it was 13 or 14 years ago, and the women-in-music thing was different back then; we used to have conversations about it all the time. It's funny because it's evolved a little now, but we still currently have conversations about it. Being a woman — especially with me touring with all guys and having no other women around back then — it was great sharing our experiences and having her to hang around with. I was a lot younger, and I like to think I've learned a lot since then and grown a bit. At the time I was a little naïve, but she was helpful in solidifying what I had already felt. It's nice to come full circle and share these new experiences together. She's been such an anchor for me for so many years."

Guitarist Jen Majura's departure from EVANESCENCE was announced in May 2022 via social media. At the time, the band said in a statement: "It has been a very special chapter in the band with our dear friend Jen Majura, but we have decided it's time to go our separate ways."

A month later, Jen spoke about her split with EVANESCENCE during an appearance on THE HAUNTED guitarist Ola Englund's YouTube show "Coffee With Ola". At the time, she said that she was still "hurt" by the move and compared the situation to a divorce.

"I believe, honestly, it's three weeks now since I got the news, and I'm still in this blurry, oblivious momentum," she said. "I guess I'm still in shock, kind of, because after being married six years, all of a sudden you're divorced. You know me, I always try to find the positive in a situation, so every day, step by step — I'm not doing great yet — but every day I find little tiny things that I'm, like, 'Oh, actually, this is good.'"

Asked how she found out that her services were no longer needed in EVANESCENCE, Jen said: "Honestly, I was cleaning my apartment, and I got the phone call. And first of all, I was, like, 'Is this a bad joke?' And I remember, after I got the news, I hung up, and I have this hallway in between my studio and my living room, and I just lay there on the floor, staring at the ceiling, wondering what that was, and literally looking over to my suitcase that I had already started packing, because I was two weeks from going out on the road until pretty much the end of the year."

Earlier this month, EVANESCENCE and alt-rock visionary K.Flay teamed up for their first-ever collaboration on the new song "Fight Like A Girl" (BMG). The track is featured as the first end title song in "Ballerina", the film set in the world of John Wick. Both the song and the film were released on June 6.

Co-written by EVANESCENCE lead singer Amy Lee, K.Flay, Dylan Eiland and "Ballerina" film composer Tyler Bates, who also produced the track, "Fight Like A Girl" follows the release of Halsey and Lee's track "Hand That Feeds", the first original song recently revealed from the film in early May.

EVANESCENCE will kick off a run of live shows later this fall, making stops on "My Chemical Romance: The Black Parade" tour and Louder Than Life festival before joining METALLICA on their "M72" world tour.

In 2003, when the rock charts were dominated by predominantly male nü-metal and post-grunge acts, a young female-fronted band from Arkansas stood out from the crowd, offering something entirely new. They were EVANESCENCE — and with their debut album, "Fallen", they transformed the rock landscape. Led by Lee, EVANESCENCE's cinematic blend of metal and symphonic, piano-driven melodies captured a generation, while "Fallen" set the band on a path to global superstardom, earning them multiple Grammys, and becoming one of the highest-selling albums of all time.

Released in the spring of 2003, "Fallen" resonated deeply with fans, selling more than 141,000 copies in its first week and peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, where it spent an astonishing 43 weeks in the Top 10. Within a month, "Fallen" was certified platinum by the RIAA, while it was a Top 10 hit in more than ten countries, reaching No. 1 in the U.K., Canada, Australia, and across Europe. Much of the album's initial success can be attributed to its stratospheric singles, including "Bring Me to Life", which broke the Top 10 in more than 15 countries and topped Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 and Alternative Airplay charts. "My Immortal" was a Top 10 hit in over ten countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Australia.

At the 2004 Grammys, EVANESCENCE received five nominations, including "Album Of The Year", "Best Rock Album", "Best Hard Rock Performance" for "Bring Me To Life", and "Best New Artist", taking home the latter two. The following year, "My Immortal" received a nod for "Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals".

Today, "Fallen" holds steady as the sixth best-selling album of the 21st century (ranking just behind Lady Gaga's "The Fame" and ahead of COLDPLAY's "A Rush Of Blood To The Head") and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, with more than 17 million copies sold worldwide. In 2022, "Fallen" received a rare diamond certification from the RIAA, which recognizes 10 million units in U.S. album sales. As a testament to the album's enduring appeal, the video for "Bring Me To Life" surpassed 1.2 billion views on YouTube, making it one of the most-watched rock videos of all-time while "My Immortal" follows close behind.

To date, EVANESCENCE has released a total of five studio albums, including the multi-platinum "The Open Door" (2004) and "Evanescence" (2011),both of which topped the Billboard 200. In 2021, the band thrilled fans with their first album of new material in a decade, "The Bitter Truth". Now 20 years on, EVANESCENCE continues to scale new heights. Featuring a lineup of Amy Lee (vocals, keyboards),Tim McCord (guitar/bass),Will Hunt (drums),Troy McLawhorn (guitars) and Emma Anzai (bass, backing vocals),the band continues to travel the globe, staging some of the most successful shows of their career, including Allianz Parque, a soccer stadium in Sāo Paulo, Brasil, which was the biggest headline show of EVANESCENCE's career to date, drawing 40,000 fans. EVANESCENCE's recent single "Afterlife", from the Netflix series "Devil May Cry", has had great success, with over 20 million streams and over 10 million views on YouTube in just the first few weeks. "Afterlife" is the fastest-moving single of the band's career.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman M. Shadows is featured in the latest episode of Fire With Fire, a new video series where Ryan J. Downey sits down with artists in the heavy music space for wide-ranging, in-depth conversations, where the importance of freedom of expression is the anchor. Created by Downey, the series is made in partnership with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and directed by Gus Black.

Asked where the drive for him and his AVENGED SEVENFOLD bandmates comes from to "refuse to be boring" and to constantly challenge their fans and listeners with their art, M. Shadows said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't know where it comes from. It's just something that you can't really tap in to. I just know that when I wake up in the morning, I wanna be excited. I wanna get up and work on something that I wanna work on, and then I wanna show the world. I think [where AVENGED SEVENFOLD's 2016 album] 'The Stage' was, we were talking about themes that literally weren't even relevant till now. We were talking about A.I., nanotechnology, we were talking about the Big Bang and Fermi paradox and exploration. We were talking about all these things that literally just went [over people's heads] when it came out. And now everyone's, like, 'Oh my God. You guys were…' But I think that comes down to us being kind of on the cutting edge of what we felt was happening, a groundswell, and it inspired us to write about it. And then it just takes some time. The same way that I think when we do a VR concert in 2023, or whatever it is, and it might be till 2030 that everyone's doing these, but ours will still be there to go back to.

"These things aren't going away and they're extremely compelling and they're new mediums to really explore," the singer continued. "I was explaining this to somebody the other day, like, the way we've thought about music is so westernized… Think about THE BEATLES sitting there, and they had these two stereo speakers, and everyone started messing around with drums over here, and Paul's [McCartney] gonna be over here and then [John] Lennon's gonna come over and then we're gonna put the vocals all over here. And they're messing with two speakers. Now we've got Atmos, we've got VR, we've got Surround Sound, we've got all these things. And we were talking about this at the VR thing — what gets written? How does music overlay itself into all these new technologies? 'Cause we're not sitting there staring at two speakers anymore. And as that changes, the art is gonna change. The art changed with THE BEATLES because of stereo, because there was now an option to do wacky things, right? And then we've just lived with that for 40, 50 years, and that's what we do. But things are gonna change. Spotify's not gonna be here forever. There'll be something different.

"Technology's moving so fast right now that things, before they can even mature, they're already over, because the next thing's happening," M. Shadows added. "The exponential growth that we were talking about in paradigm is just happening at an alarming rate. And so we just like kind of keeping our eyes on the edge. When something just gets our bodies going, 'Yeah, that's fucking rad,' then we go do it. And we do it and we put it out and we don't worry about it. Now we're on to the next thing. 'Cause while you're digesting that and worrying about what [AVENGED SEVENFOLD's latest album, 2023's] 'Life Is But A Dream...' is, we're completely somewhere else at this point. My brain right now is just somewhere way far away from that record. But there's still people coming into that record right now and going, 'I get it now. I get it.'"

Ryan J. Downey is a longtime journalist whose credits include work with Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and Marvel. He has written books, graphic novels, and liner notes for BLACK VEIL BRIDES, FALLING IN REVERSE, ICE NINE KILLS, ALICE IN CHAINS, PANTERA, TYPE O NEGATIVE, and more. He is the host of the MI Conversation Series at Hollywood's Musicians Institute, a former MTV News reporter, and served as senior editor for Alternative Press.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization whose mission is to defend and sustain individual rights to free speech, expression, and thought through a unique mix of public education campaigns, individual case advocacy, and policy reform efforts.

"Life Is But A Dream…" was written and recorded over the span of four years. It was produced by Joe Barresi and AVENGED SEVENFOLD in Los Angeles and mixed by Andy Wallace in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. The album is a journey through an existential crisis; a very personal exploration into the meaning, purpose and value of human existence with the anxiety of death always looming.

"Life Is But A Dream…" sold 36,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart. AVENGED SEVENFOLD's previous LP, the aforementioned "The Stage", debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 album chart in November 2016. The surprise release of "The Stage" earned the lowest sales of an AVENGED SEVENFOLD album in eleven years. It sold 76,000 copies in its first week, less than half the tally of its previous two efforts.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD made its first festival appearance in five years on May 19, 2023 at Welcome To Rockville at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The band's setlist included three songs from "Life Is But A Dream…": "Game Over", "We Love You" and "Nobody".

AVENGED SEVENFOLD's first concert since June 2018 took place on May 12 at AREA15 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

SILVERSTEIN unleashes one of their most ambitious singles yet with "Drain The Blood", featuring Rory Rodriguez of DAYSEEKER. Out now via UNFD, the track arrives alongside a gripping new video, which can be seen below.

SILVERSTEIN guitarist Paul Marc Rousseau comments: "Each time I start making an album I have a self-imposed rule: I can't abandon my first idea. Whatever I start on day one, I have to finish. Usually the song ends up in the trash, but this time it was 'Drain The Blood', which is my favorite song of the entire project — maybe our entire career.

"The premise of the song is very simple: keep your A.I. out of my art. I wanted every part of the song to feel unexpected and a little out of context. Irrational and human. Like, an A.I. would have never made these choices. The lyrics are irreverent and over-dramatic, but only time will tell if they're completely science fiction."

He continues: "My favorite moment of the song is when Rory enters with 'Can I be honest now? I don't see a way we get beyond this hell.' The line just feels so right with him singing it. It's like he's the voice of reason and even he feels defeated by technology. He almost goes through the five stages of grief and recaps the whole concept in 20 seconds."

SILVERSTEIN frontman Shane Told adds: "'Drain The Blood' is our response to the growing fear that machines are starting to replace what makes music (and other art) human. It's a warning, a cry of resistance, and a reminder that emotion can't be automated. We wanted the video to reflect that, so Rory and I got together in L.A. to shoot it in this strange, creepy studio that felt like something out of 'Severance' or 'Black Mirror'. Then we took it to the L.A. River, channeling the gritty, dystopian energy of 'Terminator 2'. It felt like we were capturing some of the scariest possibilities of the future — the kind where creativity gets stripped of its humanity. Rory brought such a raw energy to the track and the shoot. It made the whole vision come alive."

The result is one of SILVERSTEIN's most visually striking videos to date — equal parts cinematic and unsettling.

"Drain The Blood" marks the second single from SILVERSTEIN's forthcoming album "Pink Moon", the second chapter in their ambitious 16-song double album. Conceived and recorded during a transformative stretch in the high desert of Joshua Tree, the album is set to be released on September 12 via UNFD.

Born from the same sessions as "Antibloom", the songs on "Pink Moon" were sequenced with intention, offering a distinct yet complementary listening experience. Known for their meticulous attention to flow and emotional pacing, the band crafted both halves to stand on their own while also telling a broader, interconnected story — one that ebbs and crashes like the desert winds that shaped it.

"Pink Moon" features the only guest appearances on the project, with stunning contributions from Rodriguez and Cassadee Pope — voices chosen mid-process when the band sensed the need to push certain songs into new sonic territory. The result is a bold and diverse body of work that expands SILVERSTEIN's dynamic range while staying true to their emotional core. By releasing the project in two halves, the band has given every song the room to breathe, resonate, and evolve. The moon has risen. The story continues.

This year, fans around the world are invited to join silverstein in celebrating their silver anniversary with the "25 Years Of Noise" tour. These shows offer a discography-spanning performance and give fans the chance to vote on their favorite songs from each record to help shape the setlist. The band recently wrapped up initial legs in North America and Europe alongside THURSDAY, THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS, ARM'S LENGTH, SPLIT CHAIN, REAL FRIENDS, BROADSIDE and GREYHAVEN, including a recent performance at Vans Warped Tour in Washington, D.C.

They'll bring the show to Australia this summer with REAL FRIENDS, and perform at the Long Beach date of the Vans Warped Tour. SILVERSTEIN also announced that they'll conclude the "25 Years Of Noise" tour with a final show in Brooklyn on December 20 featuring support from THURSDAY, THE MOVIELIFE, FREE THROW and BLOOM.

Photo credit: Wyatt Clough

In a new interview with Mexico's Loud! Metal Radio, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman was asked what piece of advice he would give to young musicians looking to break into the business. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "The first thing is very important, is you have to remember, you don't have to know everything. A lot of young musicians think that I know everything, or their favorite guitarist knows how to play everything, or all the professional guitar players, they know everything, but it's not true, and it's not necessary. All you need to know is how to do what you love. That's it. I don't know much about jazz music. If I play it, I don't play it very well. I can't play like any other guitar players. I don't know how to play like this guy or that guy. As soon as you realize, 'Hey, I don't need to play like that. I don't need to play like my guitar teacher. I don't need to play like somebody else. All I need to do is get good at what I can do.' Concentrate on yourself. Don't worry about the others. You don't have to be better than someone else. Don't compare yourself. Stay kind of in your own world and focus on learning what you love about music. That's my advice."

Asked if he learned more as a musician from studying and playing in a room by himself for hours or by playing live in front of people, Marty said: "Definitely, definitely playing live. I've almost never sat in a room and practiced or studied. That sounds crazy, and people get angry when I say that, but it's kind of true. I started playing live when I was about 14. I was terrible. I didn't really know how to play, but I was playing in front of people in a band, and I always did that.

"Playing in front of people, it speeds up the learning process, because it's natural, when you play in front of people, [that] you don't wanna make a mistake," he explained. "You don't wanna play badly. But alone in a room, nobody sees, nobody cares. Your body is relaxed. But when you do something live, after you finish that show, your mind goes over every little detail: 'What did I do wrong? Where did I make a mistake? Why didn't I hear this?' It's working so much harder than practicing in your bedroom.

"So I've always played live or created an opportunity to play in front of people, whether it be recording, rehearsing, playing a concert, jamming in front of somebody," Friedman added. "If you play in front of people, that's where you get the fast results. Playing by yourself, maybe your hands start to work good, but nothing sticks to you as well as when you're playing in front of people."

Regarding how he chooses which people to take advice from, Marty said: "I take advice from anyone who I respect what they're doing. If I have someone who plays music that I like, I'm gonna listen to what they say. And maybe it doesn't fit me, maybe it does, but one thing for sure is I can't control whether people like my music or not. So, it doesn't matter if someone doesn't like what I'm doing — if I like it. If I don't like what I'm doing, then I'm kind of lost. So I try to make sure that I only work on things that I'm gonna like."

Friedman's June 13 concert at Teatro Cariola in Santiago, Chile was professionally recorded and filmed for a future live album and DVD.

As previously reported, Marty will follow the print release of his compelling autobiography last December, "Dreaming Japanese", with an audiobook version via Recorded Books on June 24. The audiobook release is available to pre-order now across all digital platforms via Amazon.

Written with veteran music journalist Jon Wiederhorn ("Louder Than Hell", "Raising Hell"),"Dreaming Japanese" debuted at No. 1 on Amazon's Heavy Metal Books chart and has received praise from major outlets including Rolling Stone, Guitar World, Decibel and Publishers Marketplace. The autobiography shares Friedman's inspiring journey from landing a gig as the lead guitarist for legendary thrash metal outfit MEGADETH during their peak years to his emigration from the U.S. to Japan, where he became a prominent television figure and Japanese pop culture household name as well as being appointed an official Ambassador Of Japan Heritage.

The "Dreaming Japanese" audiobook delivers Friedman's story with verve with a riveting narrative that captures his relentless perseverance as he struggled to start again from nothing. After spontaneously leaving his home in the U.S., to feeling lost in the middle of Tokyo with few connections or concrete plans, the story traces his journey to acclimate and assimilate into the inner core of an alien society, language and culture. In fascinating detail and clarity, Friedman shares how he gradually made inroads into the Japanese entertainment industry, becoming a household name and fixture on mainstream television and earning respect as a highly influential solo artist. "Dreaming Japanese" follows the wildly entertaining, inspiring, and above all, unprecedented path of a rock and roll guitar player who took the biggest risk: leaving worldwide success to start over from scratch in a country, culture and society far from his own and ultimately becoming an official ambassador of Japan.

From the adrenaline-soaked years touring the world with MEGADETH — where he co-wrote some of the band's most iconic albums like "Rust In Peace" and "Countdown To Extinction" — to his surreal reinvention as a lead guitarist in J-Pop acts and host of over 800 Japanese television shows, "Dreaming Japanese" reveals the wildly entertaining, deeply human, and often hilarious story of a man who risked everything to chase a new dream halfway across the globe.