FnA Records announces two new Autograph albums with the following press release:

It all started with five guys from LA who got together on weekends to jam and write songs. They were no strangers to one another having played in different bands together. At this time, Steve Plunkett (vocals/guitar) was playing with Silver Condor on Columbia Records, Keni Richards (drums) was with The Coup on A&M Records, Steve Lynch (lead guitar) and Steve Isham (keyboards) were working with Holly Penfield on Dreamland Records, and Randy Rand (bass) was playing with Lita Ford.

In 1983 the yet to be named band recorded some demos (some of which you will find on this release) which found their ways into the hands of close friends and confidants. One of those friends being legendary record producer Andy Johns (Led Zeppelin/Rolling Stones) who offered to record the demos free of charge, in hopes that it would lead to further endeavors.

David Lee Roth, who was a pal to Keni Richards, heard the demo and invited the band (still unnamed) to open for Van Halen in Jacksonville, Florida on January 19, 1984. So the band loaded up the Winnebago and headed to Florida; on their way out East, the band would collectively settle on the name Autograph.

The pop metal/glam metal band would release their debut album, Sign In Please, in October of 1984 to a slow start. Only 80,000 units were sold in the first three weeks. The sophomore album, That’s The Stuff, was released in the fall of 1985; It would fail to capture the magic of the first album. Autograph’s third release (and maybe their most technically proficient album), Loud And Clear, was released in 1987.

During their career, Autograph toured with Van Halen, Motley Crue, Heart, Aerosmith, Ronnie James Dio, Bryan Adams, and Whitesnake.

FnA Records is super stoked to be releasing two albums of mostly unreleased demos; Cloud 10 and Send Her My Way. The great thing about these demos is the sound is damn good!

The 16-page CD booklet (for both albums) features all kinds of information and three amazing photographs by the iconic Mark “Weissguy” Weiss. One day, Mark, known as “The Guy Who Rocked The 80’s” took his photos to Circus magazine where his impressive portfolio led to him being the magazines Staff photographer. Mark and his illustrious photos made him very in demand. He was one of the “Crew” – He travelled on busses and planes with these larger-than-life Rock Stars capturing photos in which he had unparalleled access.

Today, Mark continues to photograph artists and has even released a magazine (RockedMag.com) dedicated to his photos along with artist interviews from the 80’s. For those fans that are familiar with the Loud And Clear album cover – that was Marks work.

Mark “Weissguy” Weiss states about this FnA Records project, “From the first time I shot them (Autograph) in 1985 to the last time I photographed Autograph on The Monsters Of Rock Cruise in 2023, the line-up may have changed, but the sound of Autograph never did. The songs live on – and its incredibly satisfying that after 40 years, my photographs are now part of this project.”

FnA Records tips their hat to Mark “Weissguy” Weiss for working with the label in order to make this project top notch!

Today, Autographs videos are viewable on VH1 Classics and of course, YouTube.

FnA Records release of Cloud 10 and Send Her To Me show the dynamic side of Autograph. According to guitarist Steve Lynch, “There’s no way to describe the bond that is built when you’re a struggling musician forming a new band and traveling from gig to gig making music together – it transcends time, defies logic, and leaves you exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.” (Source: ‘Confessions of a Rock Guitarist’ by guitarist Steve Lynch)

Cloud 10 and Send Her To Me come with multiple choices of options to buy the CD(s). There is the single CD, a two-pack, an autographed fan pack signed by guitarist Steve Lynch, digital download, and finally a Big Bag Of Goodies stocked with both CD’s and tons of Autograph collectibles. (see the site for details). There is a Best of the Demos vinyl with 2 unreleased tracks limited to 50 units worldwide. Additionally, there are all kinds of T-shirts, Jerseys, Hats, Hoodies, Jackets, and some other cool collectibles.

Learn more and place your order at FnA Records.



Cloud 10 tracklisting:

“Cloud 10”
“Nineteen And Non-Stop”
“Angela”
“I’ve Got You”
“Angel In Black”
“When I’m Gone”
“Sweet Temptation”
“One Way Dead End Street”
“Deep End”
“Every Little Word”
“Friday”
“My Girlfriends Boyfriend Isn’t Me”



Send Her To Me tracklisting:

“All Night Long”
“Heart Attack”
“Send Her To Me”
“Turn Up The Tape Machine (Radio)”
“In The Night”
“My Attitude”
“Sanctuary”
“Dead End Street”
“All I’m Gonna Take”
“Trading Secrets”
“You Make Me Bleed”
“Simple Arithmetic” (Bonus Track)

Invited to Helsinki's Sonic Pump Studios under a pretext, Finnish metal icons AMORPHIS have been decorated with gold records for sales of their 2022 studio album "Halo" by their label partners Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The band's management, distribution and media partners gathered secretly earlier this week to witness the handover of the awards at the iconic Finnish recording studio, where the sextet crafted a number of much-loved albums over the years and even parts of "Halo". Still being busy with interviews to support their forthcoming offering "Borderland", due out on September 26, 2025, as well as tour preparations, AMORPHIS were pleasantly surprised when the shiny vinyls were presented to them.

AMORPHIS guitarist Esa Holopainen states: "Achieving a gold record is far from being guaranteed in these days. We're truly grateful to all listeners and fans who supported us along the way.

"'Halo' wasn't an easy album to make as the coronavirus was challenging the world. Some parts of its production had to be done remotely, while at other times we were actually allowed to travel to our beloved neighboring country Sweden. 'Halo' also isn't the easiest album of the AMORPHIS catalog, but it certainly has its special moments which will live on through people's sound systems and our live shows."

Originally released on February 11, 2022, "Halo" managed to hit the top of the official album chart in AMORPHIS's home country for the sixth time in the band's eventful career. Many other notable global entries (Germany No. 3, Switzerland No. 4, Austria No. 7) completed this enormously successful launch under complicated circumstances.

Followed by a Finnish headline run and a European arena tour alongside ARCH ENEMY, ELUVEITIE and GATECREEPER, the group's new album, "Borderland", will become available in late September.

The follow-up to "Halo", "Borderland" was recorded in late 2024 and early 2025 at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen. The cover artwork was designed by Dutch artist Marald Van Haasteren (METALLICA, BLACK SABBATH, KVELERTAK, ALCEST).

Since forming in Helsinki in 1990, the Finnish sextet has fearlessly explored musical frontiers — from raw death metal roots to melodic, progressive and folk-tinged heavy rock, and far beyond. At every turn, AMORPHIS has expanded musical and lyrical boundaries without compromising their artistic identity.

AMORPHIS's fifteenth studio album marks both a continuation and a reinvention of the band's legacy. With acclaimed Danish producer Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, ARCH ENEMY, AMARANTHE) at the helm for the first time and a revitalized creative spark within the group, "Borderland" sees AMORPHIS fully embracing their melodic sensibilities while venturing into fresh, uncharted sonic landscapes.

AMORPHIS is:

Tomi Joutsen - vocals
Esa Holopainen - guitars
Tomi Koivusaari - guitars
Olli-Pekka "Oppu" Laine - bass
Santeri Kallio - keys
Jan Rechberger - drums & percussion

Soultone Cymbals has uploaded a new video of former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Steven Adler playing through the band's classic song "You Could Be Mine". Check it out below. An accompanying description reads: "A true rock legend at work — Steven Adler drives the beat of this unforgettable track.

"Steven plays a completely customized set of cymbals, designed specifically for him."

The former GUNS N' ROSES drummer's current solo band lineup includes lead guitarist Michael Thomas, rhythm guitarist Alistair James, bassist Cristian Sturba and lead singer Ariel "Ari" Kamin.

"You don't get better than Michael Thomas and Alistair James; they are two of the best guitarists in rock," noted Adler.

Thomas previously delighted music fans as the lead guitarist for ENGINES OF AGGRESSION, BEAUTIFUL CREATURES and FASTER PUSSYCAT. In addition to providing Adler with smooth rhythms, James has engineered recordings for HOLLYWOOD VAMPIRES — the supergroup featuring Johnny Depp, Joe Perry of AEROSMITH, and Alice Cooper.

Kamin was a well-known rocker in Argentina with such bands as CRIATURAS SALVAJES and GN'R tribute act SON OF A GUN when he was selected to come to the U.S. and join Adler in electrifying audiences with the music of GUNS N' ROSES. Audiences have been blown away.

"Ari Kamin is the total package. He's everything a rock 'n' roll front man is supposed to be," Adler said. "Not only does he have an incredible voice, he really connects with the audience. He's one of the best you'll ever experience."

In 2021, Adler told the M3 Rock Festival YouTube channel about how he ended up recruiting Kamin to front his ADLER solo band: "Actually, I went to Argentina [in November 2016] — my wife's from there; her family lives there — and the GN'R guys invited me to do a couple of songs. And so I had a little party at a club called the Roxy in [Buenos Aires], and he was the singer [that played with us that night]. You can go on my web site and see — the Roxy in Argentina. He was so great. I was, like, 'You're coming with me.' And the guitar player from the band that opened up for GN'R was so amazing. I told him, 'Come down. I wanna jam with you.' And he came down. I tell you, if [GUNS N' ROSES guitarist] Slash would have seen him playing, he would have been in the back, in the dressing room, practicing. That's how good he was."

Kamin replaced Constantine Maroulis of "American Idol" and "Rock Of Ages" fame, who was the vocalist for ADLER'S APPETITE for a dozen or so dates in May 2018, including an Australian tour.

Although he wasn't included in the lineup that launched the "Not In This Lifetime" trek in 2016, Adler rejoined GUNS N' ROSES at several shows on the tour, including three stops on the U.S. leg and one gig in Buenos Aires, Argentina, playing drums on "Out Ta Get Me" and "My Michelle".

In February 2017, Adler revealed that he was originally supposed to appear at more than just a handful of shows on the GUNS N' ROSES reunion trek. He claimed that he expected to play all the "Appetite For Destruction" material during the entire tour, only to be told he was out after he hurt his back during rehearsals.

Speculation was rampant that Adler would participate in at least a portion of the reunion tour ever since GUNS made it official in January 2016.

GUNS N' ROSES' current drummer is Isaac Carpenter, who made his live debut with the band on May 1 at Incheon, South Korea's Songdo Moonlight Festival Park. Carpenter replaced Frank Ferrer, the longest-serving drummer in GUNS N' ROSES' storied run, in March.

During a new appearance on the "Jim Kerr Rock & Roll Morning Show" on New York City's Q104.3 radio station, original FOREIGNER singer Lou Gramm spoke about the band's ongoing tour where he is guesting at select shows on some of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame group's biggest hits. Gramm is sharing the stage with Luis Maldonado, who is replacing current frontman Kelly Hansen on lead vocals. Gramm said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Honestly, to step on stage as part of FOREIGNER again after a lot of years of being away from it, it still has that magic. And the current lineup is fantastic. They're great players and a great bunch of guys. We get along famously, and they're a lot of fun and they have a great deal of respect for the songs and the way they should be played. And I have no bones about being on stage with them at all. They do the name proud."

This past July, Gramm was asked by Ryan Vacey, music photographer and host of the Beyond The Vibe podcast, why now is the right time for him to return to FOREIGNER as a guest singer, Gramm said: "Well, I know that since we were inducted into the Rock Hall Of Fame, there's been a lot reinterest in the band — the early band and the band as it currently is. And I know [FOREIGNER's founding guitarist] Mick [Jones] is not in good health. I think if he was in good health, he would be out there with this band, and maybe I would be joining him. But he's not well enough to play, and I feel like I wanna help fly the flag for the band — the original band, and the current band right now, in these waning moments and moments when we're getting so much attention for what we've accomplished over the years. I wanna be out there as one of the original members to wave the flag."

FOREIGNER recently announced the September 12 release of extensive super deluxe editions of its 1981 smash multi-platinum album "4".

Recorded at the famed Electric Lady Studios in New York City alongside respected music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange (DEF LEPPARD, AC/DC),"Foreigner 4 Deluxe" will be available in black vinyl and various other formats on September 12 via Rhino. The release will encompass newly remastered Stereo or Atmos versions, and a five-disc CD/Blu-ray package that includes a booklet containing over 60 exclusive photos, five previously unreleased songs, 14 early and alternate versions of various songs, 15 instrumentals, and 15 live performances from across the globe, spanning the band's 1981 and 1982 "4" world tour. The digital deluxe release will also contain alternate versions, instrumentals, and live performances from the era.

Originally released July 2, 1981, "4" spent more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts than any artist in the history of Atlantic Records, including AC/DC, THE ROLLING STONES and LED ZEPPELIN, and went on to sell more than ten million albums worldwide. "4" is certified six times platinum in the U.S. (RIAA),four times platinum in Canada (Music Canada),platinum in Australia (ARIA) and Germany (BVMI),and gold in seven additional countries. It spawned three Billboard Hot 100 singles: "Waiting For A Girl Like You", "Urgent" and "Juke Box Hero". "Foreigner 4", as it's often referred to, is the fourth studio album by the legendary British-American rock band released during a time of transition as they famously went from six members to four.

Jones noted: "Recording our fourth album took the better part of two years. It was something that just had to be right and I truly believe that Mutt Lange, Lou [Gramm], Rick [Willis], Dennis [Elliott] and I accomplished something very special. This package, and particularly the stunning Atmos mixes, present a spectacular culmination of one of the most exciting periods of my life."

To coincide with the deluxe package release, FOREIGNER — Luis Maldonado (lead vocals/guitar),Jeff Pilson (bass),Michael Bluestein (keyboards),Bruce Watson (guitars),Chris Frazier (drums) — will celebrate half a century of music with a new round of headlining tour dates which will include Gramm guesting on some of the songs he helped create almost 45 years ago. The upcoming "Foreigner 4 Deluxe Tour" signals yet another important transition for the band as these new dates will be the first major U.S. shows featuring Maldonado on lead vocals. On the season finale of "The Voice", it was announced that this year's summer tour would be the last for Hansen.

Of the transition, Maldonado had this to say: "Earlier this year, we toured Mexico and South America with the incredible Lou Gramm. We all had such a fantastic time performing and being together, and it's with that same excitement I look forward to working with Lou again. He was an integral part of the writing and recording of the 'Foreigner 4' album and his presence will add a historic dimension to our forthcoming tour."

Released in 1977, FOREIGNER's debut album produced the hits "Feels Like The First Time", "Cold As Ice" and "Long, Long Way From Home". The albums "Double Vision" and "Head Games" followed with more hits including "Hot Blooded", "Blue Morning, Blue Day" and "Dirty White Boy". Then came "Urgent", "Juke Box Hero" and "Waiting For A Girl Like You". Those songs helped give FOREIGNER's next album, "4", its impressive 10-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard chart. At the zenith of 1980s sound, FOREIGNER's fifth album, "Agent Provocateur", gave the world the incredible No. 1 global hit "I Want To Know What Love Is". This musical milestone followed the record-breaking song "Waiting For A Girl Like You".

A powerhouse tribute of rock and roll royalty with AEROSMITH's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Yungblud and EXTREME's Nuno Bettencourt all came together Sunday night (September 7) for a once-in-a-lifetime performance honoring the legendary Ozzy Osbourne with a medley of his greatest hits at the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards.

Ozzy's son Jack introduced the tribute, along with his four daughters, via a pretaped video, saying, "I wish we could be there with you all tonight as you celebrate my dad's amazing musical journey. I know for sure it would make him incredibly happy to see these great musicians carry on his legacy and help inspire the next generation of rockers." He also gave a "special shout-out" to the artists who took part in the tribute. To conclude the video, Ozzy's granddaughters signed off by shouting in unison, "In the words of our Papa, let's go crazy!"

Yungblud kicked off the tribute with Osbourne's "Crazy Train" before slowing things down with a cover of BLACK SABBATH's "Changes". Tyler then took the stage to sing Osbourne's hit ballad "Mama, I'm Coming Home", accompanied by Perry on guitar. Yungblud returned to the mic to duet with Tyler on the tune, which ended with pyrotechnics and Yungblud shouting into the microphone, "Ozzy forever!"

The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, hosted by LL Cool J, aired live coast to coast from New York's UBS Arena on the CBS Television Network, simulcast on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Ozzy's long-standing and storied MTV history spans "Headbangers Ball" in the 1980s, "Battle For Ozzfest" and groundbreaking reality TV series "The Osbournes", to name a few. He was honored with the prestigious MTV EMAs Global Icon Award in 2014. Later this year, Paramount+ will debut the feature-length documentary "Ozzy Osbourne: No Escape From Now".

With more than 120 million albums sold worldwide, the global rock icon, multiplatinum singer-songwriter and pop culture phenom was a five-time Grammy winner, two-time Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee, both with BLACK SABBATH in 2006 and as a solo artist in 2024, with stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and Birmingham Walk Of Stars, among a multitude of other top accolades.

Ozzy died on July 22 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate filed in London also said Osbourne suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease.

A private funeral service for Ozzy was held on July 31 on the 250-acre grounds of the house the legendary BLACK SABBATH singer and his wife and manager Sharon bought in 1993 in Buckinghamshire, England. Only 110 of the singer's friends and family members attended the service, including his SABBATH bandmates, Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),Rob Zombie, Zakk Wylde, Marilyn Manson and Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT).

Ozzy's final concert on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom saw him and his fellow original SABBATH bandmates Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward perform four songs for more than 40,000 people in the stadium and 5.8 million more on a livestream. The festival served as a tribute to the legendary heavy metal act, including additional performances from such other groups as METALLICA, GUNS N' ROSES, SLAYER, TOOL, PANTERA and ALICE IN CHAINS. Ozzy also played a five-song solo set while seated in a bat-adorned throne.

Osbourne leaves behind his wife, Sharon, and their children, Aimée, Kelly and Jack, as well his two older children, Jessica and Louis, from his first marriage to Thelma Riley, and grandchildren.

KINGS OF THRASH, the band featuring former MEGADETH members David Ellefson (bass) and Jeff Young (guitar),kicked off the four-date "Thrashin' SoCal 2025" tour on Thursday, September 4 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

According to Setlist.fm, the setlist for the show was as follows:

01. Looking Down The Cross (MEGADETH song)
02. Hook In Mouth (MEGADETH song)
03. Train Of Consequences (MEGADETH song)
04. Victory (MEGADETH song)
05. Skull Beneath The Skin (MEGADETH song)
06. 502 (MEGADETH song)
07. Drum Solo
08. In My Darkest Hour (MEGADETH song)
09. Bad Omen (MEGADETH song)
10. Cold Sweat (THIN LIZZY cover)
11. Good Mourning/Black Friday (MEGADETH song)
12. Dawn Patrol (MEGADETH song)
13. Tornado Of Souls (MEGADETH song)
14. Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! (MEGADETH song) (with Chris Poland)
15. Lockdown (with Chris Poland)
16. Paranoid (BLACK SABBATH cover) (with Chris Poland)
17. Wake Up Dead (MEGADETH song) (with Chris Poland)
18. Peace Sells (MEGADETH song) (with Chris Poland)

In a recent interview with The Rock N' Roll & Coffee Show, Ellefson spoke about "Lockdown", the new single from KINGS OF THRASH, also featuring Young, plus Chaz Leon (vocals, guitar) and DEAD GROOVE/BULLETBOYS drummer Fred Aching, along with an occasional guest appearance by fellow ex-MEGADETH-er Chris Poland. he said: "We wanted to get some material out, some original material here in 2025, 'cause we've got some tour dates coming up here in September and October. So actually Chaz brought the song over. And I gave him some instructions. I said, 'Dude, 1984, full-blown thrash metal.' I said, 'Just head for NUCLEAR ASSAULT 'Game Over', METALLICA 'Ride The Lightning'. Just go right to the heart of the matter.' 'Cause he's got a real thrash heart. And plus he's our singer. 'Cause we've written quite a bit of material together, and we wanted something that really just kind of came out of the gate swinging. And I find it's always better to write around the singer and let him kind of lead the charge. So I thought he brought a cool tune, man. And we collaborated on it and got it into shape. I think the time when he was writing it — this started back even in January, February when we were initially working on it — I don't think we saw probably how poignant the lyric is, in light of all of the unrest going on now. So, yeah, as a good thrash song should be, maybe a bit political, a bit anarchist, and always good fun."

Elaborating on the need for KINGS OF THRASH to release fresh music, Ellefson said:  "It started out as sort of a, 'Let's go honor thrash metal.' We pulled in a little bit of THIN LIZZY and some RIOT and some stuff that we grew up on as well. And then I think the next logical step to kind of legitimize yourself is to write your own tunes. And even though, look, some of the MEGADETH stuff is stuff that I wrote, and so they already are my songs, and Jeff and Chris were part of 'em, of course. So that setlist is our music. But to move forward, it's always good to sort of freshen it up a little bit and show everybody what you got. We had another song called 'Bridges Burned' that we rolled out in 2023 when we did our first tour, and we literally wrote it on the road. Jeff and I had pretty much demoed it up in the studio the year before, so kind of musically it was pretty much together. But we collaborated on it as a group at soundcheck, tightened it up. Me and Chaz and Jeff sat down and wrote the lyrics in a hotel room while we were on the tour. And then we said, 'We'll take it to the stage.' And our crew were, like, 'Dude, you guys can't play that on stage.' I said, 'Oh, really? Watch this.' Like, why not? And who knows if we'll ever even officially record that, but it sits out on the Internet now. It's on YouTube… It's, like, why not, man? It's thrash metal, dude. This is the kick-ass, have-fun, get-in-the-pit-and-fricking punch-your-neighbor music."

Regarding the possibility of a full-length album of original KINGS OF THRASH material, David said: "It's possible. I'm certainly not gonna say no to it. I tell you what, it was great to just do one song. Making a record is a lot of work, especially when you live in different cities and you're trying to collaborate. One of the things about KINGS is we are not four of the same guy. We are four very different individuals, and so to sort of be agreeable on something, I'm not gonna lie, it's a bit of a challenge. And quite honestly, it's the diversity that makes KINGS so cool. And I guess I come from that even with MEGADETH. And Chris Poland, Jeff Young, they were sort of the diverse guitar players to Dave [Mustaine, MEGADETH leader]. So I grew up in an environment that kind of expected that. So to have KINGS mirror that, I think is cool. I'm already used to that dynamic. And having everybody not just agree on everything, but everybody bring a bit of a different perspective, it's cool. I mean, that's ultimately what a group is about. I mean, look, every group needs a leader. To some degree I lead a lot of it. I put Jeff over there to sort of put setlists together and do that. With this song 'Lockdown', I tasked Chaz with that and said, 'Hey, go do that.' Fred, he's our liaison with the record label. He does all of our artwork and everything. He shot the video, he produced it and directed it and everything. So, we've got four really creative guys that do very different things. So it's, like, we've got four guys that really contribute something. And that's great — to have four different dudes."

KINGS OF THRASH recently completed a couple of tours during which it performed MEGADETH's classic albums "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good" an "So Far...So Good... So What!" A live CD/DVD package called "Best Of The West…Live At The Whisky A Go Go" was recorded and filmed live at the legendary Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California on October 15, 2022 and was released in March 2023 via Cleopatra Records. The DVD, which was directed by Michael Sarna for Inmotion Entertainment, includes an appearance by Poland.

"Let me put it this way: What's happening now is a win for all of us — Dave [Mustaine] included," Young told Metal Edge in August 2023. "He gets to make money off the publishing from the MEGADETH songs we play. Dave knows that, so he's very aware of us."

Young continued: "He hates what KINGS OF THRASH is doing. But it doesn't matter because, eventually, we'll delete a lot of the MEGADETH from our set, and we'll keep writing new stuff. But Dave is feeling the heat because we're getting attention, and the KINGS OF THRASH album will be better than anything MEGADETH has done recently. And we're playing all the MEGADETH songs better than he has in years. It's not just me saying that — read the reviews."

In January 2023, Young told Ultimate Guitar that he and Ellefson had not received any feedback from Mustaine about their new band or their recent live shows. "We couldn't care less… and it's a win-win for him," Jeff said. "Because all the publishing, for example, on the 'Best Of The West', he's getting all that money. We're making him money and he doesn't have to do anything. So, we're performing the songs because they're part of our history and the fans want to hear them and we will benefit from that, and so will he, so it's a win-win. How much cooler can anything be than that? So, if he has something to say about it… I wouldn't imagine it would be very objective… not that anything he's ever said has been objective."

Jeff's recent comments were similar to those he made in 2022 when he told Thomas S. Orwat, Jr. of the Rock Interview Series that he and Ellefson were "really not concerned" about Mustaine's reaction to KINGS OF THRASH. "I don't pay attention," he said. "I haven't really paid attention or followed MEGADETH since, I think, I heard the 'Rust In Peace' album a couple of times, and then what you might hear on the radio or in the press.

"For us, this isn't about any spite or retaliation; it's a celebration of the music that we were all a part of, that we helped create," he explained. "And it's fun for us to do this.

"People said, 'You should do this.' And we said, 'Hey, yeah, you're right. We should do this.' It's a win-win — it's a win for us, and it's a win for [Mustaine], because any performance royalties, anything… If we did include live tracks, he would make money off that. It's promoting albums that hopefully fans will go back and buy, which is putting money right in his pocket. Especially 'Killing Is My Business', I think a lot of people are gonna go back and wanna rediscover that album after this tour.

"For us, it's all about positivity," Young added. "We're all in this moment — we're living in the moment, and we're not looking beyond. We're not reading any of the comments on Blabbermouth or any of the stuff. Because we know what our intent is, and intent is everything. And our intent's positive. We like playing together. We know we're crafting original music. We're not relying on this; we don't need to ride the coattails of this. This is just something that the fans wanted, and you wanna give fans what they want."

Ellefson told Yes! You CAN Play Guitar! that the intention behind KINGS OF THRASH is not to stick it to his former bandmates. "This is a celebration, not a retaliation," he explained. "This is a good moment. This is a happy moment, to celebrate these songs and these tracks and these records. So we go at it with just fun… It's, like, 'Wow. Wouldn't it be fun if we went out and played these records?' And we're doing it. So it's meant to be this celebration and bringing people together. And honestly, that was kind of always my role in MEGADETH. Dave [Mustaine] always called me 'The Ambassador', and I was always that guy, and I am that guy. So it's, like, let me just continue that role in our community and have one of good will."

Ellefson was fired from MEGADETH more than four years ago after sexually tinged messages and explicit video footage involving the bassist were posted on Twitter.

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

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

Young's entire career with MEGADETH was spent recording and touring in support of the band's 1988 platinum-selling album "So Far, So Good...So What!"

Jeff made headlines in December 2009 for accusing Mustaine of, among other things, "dissing, exaggerating and just plain lying on some level about nearly every talented musician that has passed through his dysfunctional little ensemble." He also disputed Mustaine's claim in an interview that Young's drug problem led to MEGADETH's 1988 Australian tour being called off and the group being "banned" from performing in the country.

There's more KINGS OF THRASH on the way, too, as they celebrate the 30th anniversary of MEGADETH's "Youthanasia" and other thrash classics. Their "Thrashin' The East" tour begins in Newark, Delaware on October 17.

🔥Thrashin' SoCal September 2025 🔥 Come out and thrash with us to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of 'Killing Is My...

Posted by Kings of Thrash on Wednesday, August 13, 2025

SEVENDUST is putting the finishing touches on the material for the band's new studio album, tentatively due in early 2026 via Napalm Records. The writing sessions for the follow-up to 2023's "Truth Killer" once again took place in Kansas at the farmhouse of SEVENDUST singer Lajon Witherspoon and his wife Ashley.

SEVENDUST is scheduled to team up with producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette at the end of the month to begin pre-production for the new LP, which will once again be tracked at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida. Baskette had previously worked with ALTER BRIDGE and SLASH, among others.

On Saturday (September 6),SEVENDUST guitarist Clint Lowery shared a photo of him with Witherspoon, SEVENDUST drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly, and he included the following message: "Nov 1994 I joined CRAWLSPACE. Made a big leap of faith leaving an established band I was in to join up with a band that had the intensity and aggression I hadn't heard at that time and I wanted in. Morgan played 'Black' demo in a car in the parking lot of masquerade in Atlanta and played 'Bitch' after. I was hooked.

"Here we are many years later writing for our 14th (15th if you count 'Time Travelers') and I can honestly say we are in a great headspace and great brotherhood. This is the pic before I left to head home. They're finishing up now and we will start pre pro with @elvisliberace end of the month.

"Like Morgan has joked for 30 years…. 'We gotta lottttttta work to do' and that is true. But I'm not worried. God will guide us, give us inspiration when it's needed, patience when it's required and trust in the team around us. Vinnie [Hornsby, bass] is very missed in this pic.

"Much love and respect I have for all these gentlemen. Let's do it again boys. Glory to God the one who makes it ALL possible. @morgan7d @jmc7d @ljspoon @thevinniehornsby PS- thank you LJ and @ashleymwitherspoon for letting us use their amazing farm house. Such great host".

To celebrate the 21st anniversary of its beloved acoustic album "Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live", SEVENDUST will hit the road for an exclusive, intimate tour this fall. Fans can expect stripped-down versions of the band's hardest-hitting tracks, deep cuts and emotional favorites, including "Black", "Beautiful" and "Angel's Son".

The "Southside Double-Wide: Acoustic Live" tour will kick off on November 14 in Columbia, Missouri and make stops in Memphis, Tennessee (November 15),Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (November 24),Kansas City, Missouri (December 5),among others, before it wraps on December 12 in San Antonio, Texas. Special guest Cory Marks will be opening the tour.

With 2024/2025 continuing to be landmark years thanks in part to the release of SEVENDUST's 14th studio album, "Truth Killer", via Napalm Records and successful tours, the band is continuing to expand its audience 30 years into its career. SEVENDUST's "Everything" was the highest-charting single of the band's career, peaking at No. 6, as well as the highest-charting rock single from any artist in Napalm Records history. The video for "Everything" has received more than 2.4 million views.

SEVENDUST served as one of the support acts for DISTURBED on the latter act's "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour".

Last fall, SEVENDUST celebrated the 21st anniversary of its iconic album "Seasons" on a U.S. tour. "Seasons", the fourth album from the band's catalog, spawned a Top 10 Rock single with "Enemy", and the album closer "Face To Face" is a show staple and fan favorite of SEVENDUST to this day.

"Seasons" was, for a time, the band's last album with Lowery as he left in 2004. Lowery returned to SEVENDUST in March 2008 and has remained with the group ever since.

Photo credit: Chuck Brueckmann

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Clint Lowery (@clintloweryofficial)

In a new interview with Seb Di Gatto of The Metal Gods Meltdown, Dizzy Reed, who is the longest-serving member of GUNS N' ROSES after singer Axl Rose, was asked to name one thing that fans think they know but they always get wrong. Dizzy responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Oh, well, I don't drive a Bentley. I drive a nice truck, though. Here's a fun fact: I have never owned and do not own a piano. I've never had a piano in my house. I've had electric pianos, I've had keyboards of all sorts, but when I get to rehearsal, that's the first time I'm playing an acoustic piano probably in a while. I mean, it seems weird, and I don't actually know why, but that's just how it's been."

Regarding what he thinks his career would have been if he hadn't been a successful musician, Reed said: "Oh, shit. I think probably I would be a crack dealer or maybe a bartender. No, that's not true. I would sell something more lucrative, not crack. I had a journalism scholarship when I was in high school, and so that is probably where I would've gone. I would've gone in that direction, and I'd probably be out of a job by now because all the newspapers shut down. That or archeology. I think I'd probably love to go out there and just dig for stuff and discover cool things."

Asked what the "the most outrageous thing" is that he ever got involved with as a member of GUNS N' ROSES, Dizzy said: "Well, yeah, there's too many to mention, and all those ones I probably shouldn't mention. But it's been great, and it's been so much fun. And there's been ups and downs — of course, there is with everything — but really, when I get up every day, I look in the mirror and I go, 'You know what? I'm so lucky to be able to play rock and roll music for a living,' and I just thank my lucky stars."

Dizzy released his second solo album, "Rock 'N' Roll Chose Me", on physical vinyl on August 22, 2025 via the Pittsburgh-based label 50q Records, with the digital full-length album release following on September 5, 2025.

Written and produced by Dizzy, "Rock 'N' Roll Chose Me" is a gritty, emotionally charged journey. It was co-produced by Jason Achilles Mezilis, with lyrics co-written by Nadja, Del James and Reed himself. The album was mixed by Evan Rodaniche and mastered by Gentry Studer.

Reed's debut solo album, "Rock 'N Roll Ain't Easy", was released in February 2018 by Golden Robot Records. The disc featured guest appearances by musicians from W.A.S.P., QUIET RIOT, PSYCHEDELIC FURS, THIN LIZZY, NO DOUBT, THE REPLACEMENTS, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, and more.

Reed joined GUNS N' ROSES as a touring member in 1990, during the "Use Your Illusion" era, and has played with most of the original members as well as in all the later editions of the group and the current "reunion" lineup.

In 2012, Dizzy was inducted into the the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of GUNS N' ROSES.

The Pulse Of Radio asked Reed how he's managed to stay in the band for so long. "I get asked that a lot and it's really just, I just never really thought about doing anything else, you know, on sort of a permanent basis," he said. "You know, I kind of feel like I'm in GUNS N' ROSES and that's where I was meant to be."

Besides being a member of GUNS N' ROSES, Dizzy has played on albums from artists including MOTÖRHEAD, Mick Taylor, Doug Aldrich, Duff McKagan, BACKYARD BABIES and Gilby Clarke.

Photo credit: John Altdorfer

In a new interview with Scott Itter of Dr. Music, SOULFLY frontman Max Cavalera spoke about the band's upcoming thirteenth album, "Chama", which will be released on October 24 via Nuclear Blast Records. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "It's been a journey, but I think more than ever I felt really inspired by this record, maybe being our thirteenth record. And we went deep into the whole going back to the origin essence of what SOULFLY is, in reality, 'cause SOULFLY was created as an entity that was going to embrace tribal grooves and spirituality, and I think this record has both of those things in a big way. But also modern, because I think the production between [SOULFLY drummer and Max's son] Zyon [Cavalera] and Arthur [Rizk] gave the record a modern touch as well."

Max also talked about the inspiration for the "Chama" title, which came from the Brazilian professional mixed martial artist Alex Pereira, who has used the song "Itsári" from Cavalera's former band SEPULTURA for all his UFC walkouts. In the Xavante language, "itsári" means "roots" and the instrumental track is an ode to Brazilian traditions. Max said: "Yeah, that moment was a huge moment to me to experience. I had never experienced something like that in my life, and I got to experience that with my son Zyon, watching together. He is a big UFC fan, and we both watched that live and I had the goosebumps. And [Alex] is walking out with 'Itsári' and he does the bow and arrow and lets go the 'Chama' scream. And that moment really, it cut me deep. I was, like, 'I'm inspired by this guy. I'm inspired by this moment. I wanna make a record to celebrate this inspiration.' So this is what 'Chama' is."

Max continued: "'Chama' is a celebration of feeling inspired again. Because it's a hard thing, man, to feel inspired, especially after you make so many records like me. It becomes harder and harder to be inspired, and it becomes easier to always just kind of just do whatever, just put out whatever record. And I'm not satisfied with that. And even though, the way I look at things, like, I don't have nothing to prove to anybody anymore, I have a lot of gas left in the tank, so you know what? I am gonna prove you something. That's kind of the feeling… It's that ready-to-battle kind of feeling, especially 'Storm The Gates' and 'No Pain = No Power'. 'No Pain = No Power' is actually influenced by all of that, all of those athletes going into war in the UFC ring, or even a football player, when he has to play through pain to actually get the power of the touchdown. You see that on TV, and it's cool. I think that I was tapping into that emotion of, without the pain, there is no power. They coexist. One feeds off the other. Without the pain, you will never reach the power and you'll never get the glory. That's kind of the idea of the song. And it was cool, because I think it connects to a real SOULFLY back to singing about shit that I know, rather than some of the other lyrics were more ethereal and kind of nonsensical. So now this record has more of personal lyrics about shit that I really connect to. I believe on those lyrics, I believe in what I'm saying."

Cavalera added: "There's a thing about, about metal. I think when you're screaming what you believe, your scream becomes more powerful than when you are just saying something that makes no sense or nobody knows what the hell you're screaming for. If you're screaming something that you really mean it — like I think it's an old rock and roll quote: mean what you say, say what you mean. You know, that kind of shit. So I was tapping into all that, but [it's a] really battle-born kind of record. It's ready for battle all the way through. And even in the quiet moments, it's still cool because it makes you check out."

Last month, SOULFLY released a Costin Chioreanu-created lyric video for "Storm The Gates", the first single from "Chama". The track was described in a press release as "a battle cry against control and greed."

"Chama" track listing:

01. Indigenous Inquisition
02. Storm The Gates
03. Nihilist
04. No Pain = No Power
05. Ghenna
06. Black Hole Scum
07. Favela / Dystopia
08. Always Was, Always Will Be...
09. Soulfly XIII
10. Chama

"Chama" was recorded at the Platinum Underground Studio in Mesa, Arizona by John Aquilino. John has worked with Max and company multiple times before and is not only a talented engineer but a family friend. The album was produced by Zyon Cavalera and Arthur Rizk. The latter was also responsible for the mixing and mastering. Rizk has not only worked with the Cavalera family numerous times before, but has also helped to shape the world of heavy metal in the modern day. SOULFLY enlisted Carletta Parrish to create the album artwork. For the album, Igor Amadeus Cavalera (GO AHEAD & DIE, NAILBOMB, HEALING MAGIC) played bass and Mike De Leon played guitar. The album also features Dino Cazares (FEAR FACTORY) on one of the tracks.

Zyon stated: "With each SOULFLY record I've played on, I can feel my evolution happening in real time. This record was no different as I got to handle a good amount of the production for the first time. Trying to take the band to places we have never been before was a blast and I look forward to more production work in the future!"

SOULFLY's lineup on "Chama" is:

Max Cavalera - Vocals, Guitar
Igor Amadeus Cavalera - Bass
Zyon Cavalera - Drums
Mike De Leon – Guitar

SOULFLY played "Favela / Dystopia" live for the first time on July 8 at Maimunarnika in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In a recent interview with MetalUnderground.com, Max stated about the musical direction of the new SOULFLY material: "The record, it's cool. It feels to me [like it] has the adventurous spirit of the first record [1998's 'Soulfly']. Sonically, it's pretty different from the first record — it's more intricate and maybe even heavier, heavier grooves. But in terms of spirit and attitude, it's similar to the first record, which I think is cool that I got to figure out a way to put my mind back at that time and what made me create that record and use it again on a new record. It's pretty fun. It's kind of hard to do, but I think it was an exciting thing to tackle. It was kind of, like, 'Let's try to do this. Let's see if you can use your first album as somehow some kind of inspiration for your thirteenth record. [Laughs] And that was great, man. I love that. I love that kind of vibe that the record has."

Cavalera continued: "That's the cool thing about this record. It's kind of, in a way, a return to what me and fans of SOULFLY fell in love with SOULFLY for. And then throughout the years, many of the other records had a lot of different vibes in it. Some of them went more thrashy with stuff like 'Dark Ages' [2005], 'Omen' [2010], 'Conquer' [2008]. So, to me, making a record that sonically is inspired by the first thing that you did as a band, it was a challenge — there's a challenge in that — 'cause it's easier said than done. Because I don't wanna just copy that first record either. There's no point in doing that. I'm just using it as inspiration. It's really just full on for metal inspiration. The songs [themselves], they're gonna have their own personality and their own vibe. But, yeah, it's coming out quite interesting. I'm excited to hear what the fans are gonna think about this one."

This past May, SOULFLY recruited Chase Bryant (WARBRINGER) to play bass on the band's European tour, which kicked off on June 7 at the South Of Heaven festival in Maastricht, Netherlands.

A month earlier, SOULFLY parted ways with the band's longtime bassist Mike Leon.

Leon, formerly of HAVOK, joined SOULFLY in September 2015 as the replacement for STATIC-X bassist Tony Campos, who left SOULFLY in May of that year.

In August 2021, SOULFLY parted ways with longtime guitarist Marc Rizzo due to personal differences. FEAR FACTORY's Dino Cazares played guitar for SOULFLY on the band's 2021 and 2022 run of shows.

Guitarist Mike DeLeon has been touring with SOULFLY for more than two years. Prior to hooking up with SOULFLY, DeLeon had been a member of PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo's solo band PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, which he joined in 2015 as the replacement for Marzi Montazeri. More recently, Mike filled in for Zakk Wylde at the first rehearsal for the fall 2022 PANTERA shows.

Silver Stallion Videos has uploaded video of Ted Nugent's entire August 30 concert at Warner Vineyards in Paw Paw, Michigan. Check it out below.

Featured songs:

01. Unleash The Fury 0:00
02. The Star-Spangled Banner 2:00
03. Free-For-All 4:52
04. Gonzo 8:47
05. Where Have You Been All My Life 14:11
06. Wang Dang Sweet Poontang 18:50
07. Stormtroopin' 25:13
08. Paralyzed 32:23
09. Just What The Doctor Ordered 37:54
10. My Girl 45:21
11. Hey Baby 46:18
12. Good Friends And A Bottle Of Wine 52:38
13. Fred Bear 1:01:04
14. Cat Scratch Fever 1:09:59
15. Stranglehold 1:14:52
16. The Great White Buffalo 1:25:46

During an appearance on a March 2025 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", legendary rocker Ted Nugent spoke about his announcement that he would celebrate the 50th anniversary of his iconic rock anthem "Stranglehold" with several exclusive "SpeakEzy Rockout" gigs this spring and summer. The dates are taking place less than two years after Ted completed his "Adios Mofo '23" farewell tour, which saw him backed by his most recent solo band consisting of drummer Jason Hartless and bassist Johnny "Big" Schoen.

Regarding his decision to return to playing live, Ted said: "I never used the word 'retire'… A lot of people [say], 'How come you're gonna play again? You said you were gonna retire.' I've never used the 'R' word. I made it quite clear that I still crave to play. In fact, this morning I was playing through a Gibson Byrdland through a Fender amp and my feet never touched the ground. I'm still absolutely stimulated by the pursuit of musical guitar adventure. So with Jason Hartless and Johnny Big and my buddy here John Kutz in Texas, we're gonna do a bunch of 'Rockouts' in Texas in April and May, and then in Michigan and maybe beyond in August. But, yeah, I still play, but I need to be home to my damn dogs every day. When I leave home, my dogs look so sad. And when I come home, they just about blow up running and barking and turning in circles. So, I have my priorities."

He added: "This year I will break 7,000 'Rockouts'. I will go over the 7,000 mark. So I'm an old man — I'm 76 — but I still crave grabbing that guitar and playing these grinds and grooves and flamethrowing fun music, man."

After host Eddie Trunk noted that there is "no reason" for Ted to stop playing as long as he is still living up to his legacy, Nugent concurred. "You see Sammy Hagar out there, and he's rocking as good as he ever has," Ted said. "It's about attitude. If you still really, really love the music and you're dedicated to putting on a show that earns the money of those ticket buyers, then of course it's the American dream. I got old buddies that still weld. My favorite people are welders. My buddies that are good welders, they still weld, and one of 'em is 86 years old. So no matter what your American dream is, if you're still able to get such gratification… And God bless the welders, but they'll never feel the sensations that music events create. I mean, the energy at my gigs, I do these rockouts. I just played the national anthem at [Donald Trump's] Mar-a-Lago [resort] for a bunch of hellraisers for Donald Trump, and it was like a gunstock version of Woodstock. These people love the music. They love the guitar playing. They pay attention. And I'm inspired by that… The soundtrack for our American dream, our life's adventure, that's still alive and well. I'm a lucky, lucky, high-energy, healthy guy. And I play my guitar like a horny teenager every time I pick it up."

Two years ago, the now-76-year-old Ted spoke to "THAT Rocks!" about his decision to embark on what was billed as his last-ever tour. Regarding why he didn't want to spend time on the road anymore, Ted said in part: "Hotels are jail. I hate jail… I will always play music. The music still has fire. I still crave it. I've got new songs. I'm gonna go in the studio with these killer musicians that are always at my side. But traveling, I tell you… A hotel room is jail… The travel and the hotels… And I don't even have to go to TSA [Transportation Security Administration]; I mean, I gave the finger to them in 2009. If somebody doesn't send a jet, I don't go anywhere. My friends are better than your friends, 'cause my friends have jets. So, I'm not TSA and I'm not gonna let somebody fondle my Glock [gun] and ask me questions about gun laws. And hotels are so painful for me."

Ted went on to clarify that he was not retiring from playing live. "The fire, the music, it will always go on," he said. "I play my guitar every day… And I get to collaborate with the best musicians in the world. So it's always a challenge, it's always intriguing, it's always stimulating. I'm an old man, but the stimuli factor… I hope that somebody else in this world is as stimulated by the music as I am, because it's still very much alive and well."

Asked if he will miss the audience and the live interaction on stage, Ted said: "Yes. Of course I will. But again, I won't miss it because I'll still do it… I'm not going out for months or even weeks. I'll do the occasional special events. I do a lot of corporate stuff… Yeah, I'm an energized son of a bitch, but I am 7[6], and I'm not swinging from ropes and I'm not wearing a loincloth and I'm not jumping off the amplifiers with my new knees. So I will miss it, but, again, I've got 12 grandkids and I don't wanna go away someday and not make an imprint on them, teach them about the important things in life. In a world that's really gone really stupid, I think my grandparenting responsibilities are more important now than ever."

Nugent's self-titled debut album in 1975 was certified double platinum in the United States, while "Free-for-All", "Cat Scratch Fever", "Weekend Warriors" and "State Of Shock" all reached the Top 30 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Nugent has reportedly sold over 40 million albums and was named Detroit's greatest guitar player of all time by readers of MLive.

The conservative rocker, who been eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as a solo artist since 2000, has enjoyed a remarkably successful and eventful musical career over the past five decades, but his music is increasingly overshadowed by his political outbursts.

Nugent's latest album, "Detroit Muscle", was released in April 2022 via Pavement Music. The follow-up to 2018's "The Music Made Me Do It" was recorded with Ted's previous touring band, which included bassist Greg Smith and Hartless.

Former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes recently spoke to Canada's The Metal Voice about the Eddie Van Halen/Randy Rhoads rivalry, which is one of the most hotly debated topics in the guitar world. As two of the most well-known players of their time, the VAN HALEN shredder and the late Ozzy Osbourne and QUIET RIOT axeman were frequently pitted against each other in the 1980s, owing to the similarities in their playing styles. Holmes said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "I grew up right next to Pasadena and La Cañada [Flintridge in California]. That's on one side, but Glendale's on the other side, and that's where QUIET RIOT comes from.

"There's a lot of people [who] say that I hate Randy Rhoads. No, I don't hate the guy. I like the guy, actually," Holmes clarified. "I think he is a good guitar player. I've read on the Internet, a lot of people say I hate him. I don't hate him. Okay?! He comes from my era, from my age of playing guitar and stuff. I've never said I hate the guy. I grew up with VAN HALEN, so I look at him, who's better? To me, [Eddie] Van Halen smokes him. So if I go with the VAN HALEN side of [things]. VAN HALEN didn't wear a little bow tie and polka dots. QUIET RIOT did. I didn't like that. I'd rather go to a VAN HALEN party, drink Schlitz malt liquor and get your teeth knocked out in the mud than go to a QUIET RIOT party and smoke Sherman cigarettes and drink Perrier. That ain't my bag. So it's different sides of [things]. But anyway, yeah, I don't hate Randy Rhoads. He's played some good stuff. It's sad that he died."

Holmes previously touched upon the Van Halen/Rhoads rivalry in a 2000 interview with The Inside. He stated at the time: "Well, every band had their rivals and back [in the 1970s]. QUIET RIOT was VAN HALEN's. They were about the same age. The San Fernando people were QUIET RIOT fans and San Gabriel people were VAN HALEN fans. I just never liked QUIET RIOT. I used to make fun of them because they wore polka dots and bow ties, and VAN HALEN was like a drunk party band all the time. I didn't like Randy Rhoads either. I don't want to say anything bad about the guy, but there's always rivals."

Rhoads's pre-Ozzy band QUIET RIOT had been gigging on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California at the same time as VAN HALEN. Although both Rhoads and Van Halen later became some of the most influential guitarists of the 20th century, playing with a similar flare and incorporating finger-tapping into their fleet-fingered solos, Eddie found commercial success before Rhoads, due in part to the fact that VAN HALEN landed a record deal years before QUIET RIOT did.

In a 2022 interview with Rolling Stone, Ozzy discussed the supposed cross-town rivalry Rhoads, the first guitarist Osbourne worked with after BLACK SABBATH, had with Van Halen.

"I heard recently that Eddie said he taught Randy all his licks … he never," Osbourne told Rolling Stone. "To be honest, Randy didn't have a nice thing to say about Eddie. Maybe they had a falling out or whatever, but they were rivals."

The rivalry between Rhoads and Van Halen was explored in the documentary "Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon", which was released in May 2022. The film contains archive audio of Van Halen discussing Rhoads, saying, "He was one guitarist who was honest, anyway. Because he said everything he did he learned from me.

"He was good," Van Halen continued. "But I don't really think he did anything that I haven't done. And there ain't nothing wrong with it. I've copied some other people, you know?"

Randy's friend Kim McNair also spoke about the Rhoads-Van Halen rivalry in "Randy Rhoads: Reflections Of A Guitar Icon", reflecting: "This was the years of guitar heroes. To a large degree, bands were judged on their guitar player. I think all the guitar players in town kept up on each other."

Meanwhile, QUIET RIOT fan club president Lori Hollen said that at some of the band's early shows, "we would see David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen there, which was always interesting to me. Because I know Randy never went to see them play. But they would always come to see QUIET RIOT and Randy play."

Elsewhere in the film, Rhoads's guitar tech Brian Reason recalled how he used to stick a picture of Eddie Van Halen to Randy's wah pedal. "He wasn't very excited about [it], but it was in the perfect place," Reason explained, "because every time he stomped on his wah wah pedal, he stomped on it as if he wanted to crush it."

In a 1982 interview with Guitar World magazine, Rhoads said: "I have my own personality on the guitar but as of yet I don't think I have my own style. For instance, I do a solo guitar thing in concert, and I do a lot of the same licks as Eddie Van Halen. Eddie is a great player, but it kills me that I do that. For me it's just flash that impresses the kids. I'm trying to make a name for myself as fast as I can. I wish I could take time and come up with something that nobody else has done. But that's gonna take a few years yet."

Rhoads and two others were killed on March 19, 1982 when the small plane they were flying in at Flying Baron Estates in Leesburg, Florida struck Osbourne's tour bus, then crashed into a mansion. Rhoads was 25 years old.

Eddie passed away in October 2020 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California. The 65-year-old axeman died from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

Nita Strauss is celebrating the tenth anniversary of her getting sober.

The 38-year-old guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band credited her husband and manager Josh Villalta with helping her live her life without alcohol.

Earlier today (Friday, September 5),Strauss took to her Instagram to write: "Made it.

"I remember my first few weeks of sobriety with this vague idea of 'I'll see if I can do 10 years.' At the time, that number was PREPOSTEROUS. Might as well be a million billion years!! I thought I'd just bide my time, wait until things calmed down in my life and then everything could go back to normal. I had no concept of all the gifts sobriety would bring into my life and how much better the new normal would be!

"Sobriety still does not come 'easily' to me. I'm by myself a lot on tour and I have easy access to anything I want on the tour bus and dressing rooms… In fact I actually called the front desk in my hotel this week and asked them to please come and remove the massive quantities of alcohol from the room's minibar, because I knew I'd be here today, and even after all this time I still don't want to give in to that little voice that says 'you're alone in the room, you hit your goal of 10 years, no one will know if you have a lil celebration.' It's something that you work at quietly every day, on some days that it never crosses your mind and some days harder than others.

"Grateful for the support of @thejoshv through this whole journey and for my dear friends in recovery who have given me the best advice and reading lists.

"Sobriety can be a solitary road but it's important to know that you don't have to walk it alone when you don't want to!!

"Celebrating here with an iced coffee walk before rehearsal. Couldn't ask for my life to have turned out any better".

In a separate post on his Instagram, Villalta praised his wife for reaching the huge milestone of a decade of sobriety.

"TEN YEARS!! What a landmark," he wrote.
"This was the first big fork in the road for us, and the way we were living just wasn't working. Then Nita said something that changed everything 'I'll never drink again.' She'd tried before, but this time she promised it would be different. She made that choice and her life transformed almost immediately. It was like a rocket booster was strapped to her back….she just soared.

"To let go of something that once felt 'fun,' something that had been such a big part of her life… to choose US over that and then to stay true to that decision for 3,645 days straight is nothing short of incredible. At any moment she could have slipped, but instead….she stayed strong. It wasn't an easy decision to make and keep, but I'm so grateful she did. I always knew that wasn't the person she was and not living her full potential.

"I'm constantly in awe of her headstrong determination and her ability to stick with what she sets her mind to. And that hasn't gone unseen, it's felt by people around the world who look to her for hope and inspiration. She's not just transformed her own life, she's helped others make the same choice to step into sobriety. She is a beacon of light to so many.

"Thank you for choosing happiness.
Thank you for choosing a path that has made our lives more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.
I'm thankful for you. I'm inspired by you.
And most of all, I'm so incredibly proud of you.

"Please go show her some love today, she deserves it and so much more."

During a December 2021 appearance on "Guitar Autopsy", the video podcast hosted by Rusty Cooley, Strauss spoke about how she managed to lose 50 pounds and get sober while on tour back in 2015.

"My whole approach to sobriety and health and fitness is to educate but not ever force," she said. "I wouldn't ever want it to be, like, 'You have to stop drinking. You have to do cardio every day,' or whatever. All I can share is really what worked for me, and that was alcohol was extremely, extremely detrimental in my personal life.

"I got sober in 2015 and I basically just decided to make the most of it and said, 'If I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do it right,'" she continued. "And I switched from going to the bar after the show to going to the Barbell in the morning, for lack of a better term. [Laughs] I hooked up with great bodybuilding coaches that [helped] me [with] my diet and my workout while I'm on the road. I use the right supplements, I eat the right food. I have dieticians at RP Strength, I have a workout coach, I take all the right supplements, I drink my green drinks, I take all my vitamins and I stay on track. And the more I did it, people in our community — the rock and metal community — were starting to ask how I did it. And I was writing these long captions on my phone: 'First things first, you drink a lot of water…' da da da. And so I thought why not inspire people to do more. So I created 'Body Shred'. And 'Body Shred' is the first fitness challenge that I know of that is aimed at the music community."

In 2020, Strauss also credited Villalta with helping her live her life without alcohol. At the time, she wrote: "I thought I needed a drink for just about everything. To be confident on stage. To be social after shows. To celebrate. To mourn. To take the edge off frustration or the sting out of a bad day. To relax and laugh at lunch with girlfriends, or watch football with the guys on Sundays. I was terrified that my life was going to change, that without alcohol I wouldn't be ME anymore, that I would lose my circle of friends, and my onstage charisma, and become someone else. ALL those things happened... but not in the way I thought they would.

"Change came first in my relationship, in the form of less fighting and drama, and more productivity, peace and love. Thank you @thejoshv for being the catalyst to the best thing I ever did for myself. I love you.

"The ME that I was before would have stayed up until 6 am at the bar or in the bus front lounge. The ME that I became would rather get up at 6 and get to the gym before starting the day.

"My busy circle of friends was almost immediately reduced to a core 3. I've learned that when it comes to friendships, quality is ALWAYS better than quantity. If your friends have no interest in spending time with you after you make a change for the better, they weren't your real friends.

"My first show without alcohol was in front of 15,000 people. I felt like a scarecrow someone had propped up on stage to scare birds. Nothing felt natural. I was going through the motions, with this absurd idea running through my head 'everyone is looking at me. Everyone knows.'

"I went out by the bus to talk to fans afterward, and do you know what they said? 'Wow you were so great! Where do you get all that energy? You add so much to Alice's band!'

"ALL of that insecurity, ALL the fears, ALL the doubt was in my head. Those are your demons that make you think you need them.

"I'm content to sit at the bar, order a soda water with lime and watch the game now. I wouldn't trade back to my old life for anything."

Back in 2018, Nita spoke openly about how she got finally sober in September 2015, saying that Josh has always been "a tough-love type" in the way she approached her sobriety. "He's, like, 'Look, you're on this path, and I support you, but I'm not changing the way I do things at all," she explained in an interview with "Chasing Glory With Lilian Garcia". "And I'm kind of glad, in retrospect, that he did that, because it threw me into the fire and showed me, like, 'Hey, you can be [around people who are drinking] and not drink.' He has continued to drink throughout [this entire period], but he didn't want me to drink, because when I would drink, I would start fights and I would get emotional and I would overreact to stupid things, like you do when you drink — it's part of drinking; it heightens all your emotions and everything." Nita also revealed that she has never participated in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) to help her stay sober.

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

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by 𝐍 𝐈 𝐓 𝐀 𝐒 𝐓 𝐑 𝐀 𝐔 𝐒 𝐒 (@hurricanenita)



View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Josh Villalta (Vee-all-ta) (@thejoshv)

Akashic Books and FAITH NO MORE co-founder, musical trailblazer, and queer icon Roddy Bottum have announced the November 4 release of Bottum's memoir "The Royal We". A heartfelt reflection of a San Francisco that once was and is no more, "The Royal We" documents Bottum's travels from Los Angeles — growing up gay with no role models — to San Francisco, where he formed FAITH NO MORE and went on to tour the world relentlessly, surviving heroin addiction and the plight of AIDS, to become a queer icon.

A deeply personal work of humor, commentary, and reflection, "The Royal We" is much more than a musician's tell-all. There are personal tales of historical pinnacles like Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, GUNS N' ROSES, and recaps of gold records and arena rock — but it's the testimonies of tragedy, addiction, and a deeply loving recollection of a remarkable scene that make this work so unique and intriguing. Writing about his harrowing past in a clear-eyed voice devoid of self-pity, Bottum's emboldened and confident pronouncements of achievement and unorthodox heroism flow in an unstoppable train that's both captivating and inspirational.

This autumn, Bottum will be discussing the book at special events in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Dates and venues can be seen below, with additional details and ticket info to be announced soon.

Roddy Bottum 2025 book events:

Thursday, November 13 at 7:00 p.m.
New York, NY
Strand Book Store (828 Broadway)

Tuesday, November 18 at 7:00 pm
Los Angeles, CA
Skylight Books (1818 N Vermont Ave.)

Thursday, November 20 at 7:00 pm
San Francisco, CA
City Lights (261 Columbus Ave)

Roddy Bottum is a musician, writer, creator, and actor based in New York City. He started the band FAITH NO MORE in San Francisco in the early 1980s and toured the world, selling millions of records. In 1992, he came out of the closet and blew open the spectrum of what being gay in the world of rock music meant. That same year he also formed the critically acclaimed band IMPERIAL TEEN, cited as the original pioneers of alternative queer rock. Bottum moved to New York City in 2010 and has performed and created records with CRICKETS, JD Samson, NASTIE BAND and MAN ON MAN, a band with his partner Joey Holman. He's developing his "Sasquatch" opera project into a musical in New York City where he continues to live.

Photo credit: Joey Holman

Former SODOM drummer Atomic Steif, whose real name was Guido Richter, passed away last week. No further details regarding his death are currently available.

Earlier today (Saturday, September 6),SODOM bassist/vocalist Thomas "Angelripper" Such shared the following message via social media: "Dear Sodomaniacs. As I was informed today, our former drummer 'Atomic Steif' passed away at the end of last week. The circumstances of his death are currently unknown. R.I.P., pal..."

Atomic Steif was a member of SODOM between 1993 and 1995, and appeared on the "Get What You Deserve" and "Masquerade In Blood" albums, as well as the "Aber Bitte Mit Sahne" EP. He also played with LIVING DEATH, ASSASSIN, HOLY MOSES and VIOLENT FORCE.

Atomic Steif joined SODOM as the replacement for Christian "Witchhunter" Dudek. Dudek reportedly died in September 2008 due to vital organ failure.

Dear Sodomaniacs. As I was informed today, our former drummer "Atomic Steif" passed away at the end of last week. The circumstances of his death are currently unknown. R.I.P., pal...

Posted by Sodom on Saturday, September 6, 2025

Norwegian rock outfit LEPROUS has announced a spectacular and much overdue brand-new live release titled "An Evening Of Atonement", out on October 24, 2025 worldwide via InsideOut Music.

Following their latest, acclaimed eighth studio album "Melodies Of Atonement" (2024),LEPROUS took to the stage of Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, The Netherlands on February 7, 2025 for one of the biggest and most explosive shows of their career to date. 15 years since first performing there as an opening band, they returned now for their own triumphant concert, playing two career-spanning sets captured on camera by director Paul M Green and to be released under the title "An Evening Of Atonement" as limited 2CD and Blu-ray digipak, gatefold 3LP and as digital album (2CD). The artwork, seen below, is based on photography by Mathilde Miossec with design by Ritxi Ostáriz.

LEPROUS commented: "In January of 2025, we embarked on a project to perform the biggest shows of our career to date, playing in major European cities to sold-out shows. We aimed to put on a spectacle, drawing on music from our entire back catalog over two mammoth sets every night, and showcasing it all within our biggest technical productions yet. It all culminated in this — 'An Evening Of Atonement' — shot live at the wonderful 013 Poppodium in Tilburg, NL.

"'Melodies Of Atonement' was another evolution for LEPROUS — shedding the orchestral layers that had defined the past few albums, and focusing instead on what WE as five musicians sound like together — more focused, impactful, and raw. Performing those songs on stage was a thrill — and creating a special setlist which weaved and flowed through the various musical changes of our career was an exciting challenge."

A first single/video off the upcoming live release, which features 21 powerful live tracks, as just been launched. Check out "Like A Sunken Ship (Live In Tilburg 2025)" below.

"An Evening Of Atonement" (2CD and Blu-ray digipak) track listing:

Disc One: CD 1 / Act 1 (61:55):

01. Silently Walking Alone (Live In Tilburg 2025) (05:53)
02. The Price (Live In Tilburg 2025) (05:13)
03. Illuminate (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:24)
04. I Hear The Sirens (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:52)
05. Like A Sunken Ship (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:05)
06. Forced Entry (Live In Tilburg 2025) (10:14)
07. Out Of Here (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:17)
08. Alleviate (Live In Tilburg 2025) (03:41)
09. Distant Bells (Live In Tilburg 2025) (08:41)
10. Foe (Live In Tilburg 2025) (03:27)
11. Nighttime Disguise (Live In Tilburg 2025) (07:01)

Disc Two: CD 2 / Act 2 (64:37):

01. Unfree My Soul (Live In Tilburg 2025) (05:44)
02. On Hold (Live In Tilburg 2025) (09:01)
03. Below (Live In Tilburg 2025) (05:57)
04. Passing (Live In Tilburg 2025) (08:49)
05. Faceless (Live In Tilburg 2025) (07:22)
06. Castaway Angels (Live In Tilburg 2025) (07:03)
07. From The Flame (Live In Tilburg 2025) (03:59)
08. Slave (Live In Tilburg 2025) (06:49)
09. Atonement (Live In Tilburg 2025) (05:02)
10. The Sky Is Red (Outro) (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:45)

Disc Three: Blu-ray (173:12 min.):

Live In Tilburg 2025 (Concert) (146:42 min.)

Act 1:

01. Silently Walking Alone (Live In Tilburg 2025) (05:54)
02. The Price (Live In Tilburg 2025) (05:11)
03. Illuminate (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:24)
04. I Hear The Sirens (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:53)
05. Like A Sunken Ship (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:41)
06. Forced Entry (Live In Tilburg 2025) (10:20)
07. Out Of Here (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:17)
08. Alleviate (Live In Tilburg 2025) (03:41)
09. Distant Bells (Live In Tilburg 2025) (08:34)
10. Foe (Live In Tilburg 2025) (03:27)
11. Nighttime Disguise (Live In Tilburg 2025) (07:01)

Act 2:

12. Unfree My Soul (Live In Tilburg 2025) (05:23)
13. On Hold (Live In Tilburg 2025) (07:45)
14. Below (Live In Tilburg 2025) (07:12)
15. Passing (Live In Tilburg 2025) (08:53)
16. Faceless (Live In Tilburg 2025) (07:22)
17. Castaway Angels (Live In Tilburg 2025) (07:07)
18. From The Flame (Live In Tilburg 2025) (03:52)
19. Slave (Live In Tilburg 2025) (06:49)
20. Atonement (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:43)
21. The Sky Is Red (Outro) (Live In Tilburg 2025) (04:45)

An Interview With LEPROUS (bonus content) (26.30 min.)

Next to the limited 2CD and Blu-ray digipak format, the audio part of "An Evening Of Atonement" will also be released as gatefold 3LP on 180g vinyl.

Having just recently performed at several high-profile European festivals across the summer, LEPROUS will next embark on comprehensive headlining tour across Europe in October/November with supports GÅTE and ROYAL SORROW.

Photo credit: Grzegorz Golebiowski

Progressive metal titans DREAM THEATER kicked off their summer/fall 2025 "An Evening With Dream Theater" tour last night (Friday, September 5) at Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The concert saw James LaBrie (vocals),John Petrucci (guitar),John Myung (bass),Jordan Rudess (keyboards) and Mike Portnoy (drums) perform their latest, 16th studio album, "Parasomnia", in its entirety, as well as the entire seven-movement masterpiece "A Change Of Seasons", for the first time since Portnoy's return to the band in October 2023, in addition to other classics and fan favorites from DREAM THEATER's catalog. The 30-city U.S. trek will run through October 25, when it wrap in Long Island, New York.

The setlist for the Reading concert was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

Act I: Parasomnia

01. In The Arms Of Morpheus (live debut)
02. Night Terror
03. A Broken Man (live debut)
04. Dead Asleep (live debut)
05. Midnight Messiah
06. Bend The Clock (live debut)
07. The Shadow Man Incident (live debut)

Act II:

08. As I Am
09. The Enemy Inside
10. A Rite Of Passage
11. Act I: Scene Three: I. Through My Words
12. Act I: Scene Three: II. Fatal Tragedy
13. Peruvian Skies (with excerpts from "Wish You Were Hre" by PINK FLOYD and "Wherever I May Roam" by METALLICA)
14. Take The Time (abridged)

Encore:

15. A Change Of Seasons: I The Crimson Sunrise (first time since 2017)
16. A Change Of Seasons: II Innocence (first time since 2017)
17. A Change Of Seasons: III Carpe Diem (first time since 2017)
18. A Change Of Seasons: IV The Darkest Of Winters (first time since 2017)
19. A Change Of Seasons: V Another World (first time since 2017)
20. A Change Of Seasons: VI The Inevitable Summer (first time since 2017)
21. A Change Of Seasons: VII The Crimson Sunset (first time since 2017)

During an August 6 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Portnoy spoke about what it has been like for him to be touring with DREAM THEATER once again after a 13-year absence. The progressive metal legends played their first concert with Portnoy in 14 years on October 20, 2024 at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. The drummer, who co-founded DREAM THEATER, played on 10 of the band's albums over a 20-year period, from 1989's "When Dream And Day Unite" through 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", before exiting the group in 2010. Portnoy returned to DREAM THEATER in October 2023 after being replaced by Mike Mangini, who played with DREAM THEATER across five studio albums and accompanying world tours. Portnoy told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk": "It's been incredible — the biggest tour the band has ever done. We started at the O2 in London, which was incredibly emotional, and then we wrapped the U.S. tour at Radio City Music Hall… There's so many highlights. It's been incredible. We did all of Europe once with [the] 'An Evening With' [run of shows], then we did South America. We did North America, then we did this [European] festival run, and now we're about to shift into finally doing a tour for the new album, 'cause through all this we put out a new album in February, and we haven't really had a chance to properly give attention to that yet, 'cause we've been so busy with the 40th-anniversary thing. So we're about to shift into 'Parasomnia' mode, and we have a North American tour kicking off next month. And we'll be all through the States in September and October with a completely different show. So if anybody saw us in the last round, this is a completely different set, completely different stage, and we're gonna play the whole new album in its entirety, which will be a lot of fun and finally give it its due."

Asked if the tracks from "Parasomnia" would be performed in the same order that they appear on the LP on the upcoming tour, Portnoy said: "Yeah, it was written to be performed that way. The whole album is very much like a concept album in that respect. So we've played a couple of the songs this past year on the 40th-anniversary tour, but now we could dig into it and give it a full top-to-bottom presentation. And then gonna celebrate the 30th anniversary of 'A Change of Seasons', which was like the first big epic the band put out 30 years ago. So we're gonna play that as well."

Portnoy added: "We've still got a lot of gas left in the tank. We're gonna go over to Asia right after New Year, and then we have a third European run next spring to do the 'Parasomnia' over there. So it's been incredible, but the emotions at every show — the fans, you just look out there and you see grown men crying, and it's all smiles and tears."

After Trunk noted that a lot of the emotions surrounding DREAM THEATER's current tour are based on the fact that Portnoy is back in the band after such a long time away, Mike said: "I'm so thankful that it's come back full circle. It would've been really sad if we never did reunite. I've seen other bands, like PINK FLOYD with Roger Waters, or GENESIS with Peter Gabriel, certain bands that never do reunite. And as a fan, it's a shame. I would love to see those lineups together again before it all ends. So for us to be back together again and celebrating the 40th anniversary of the band and riding off into the sunset together, it's poetic. It's the way it should be, really. And I'm so glad that we're here together again."

DREAM THEATER kicked off the spring/summer 2025 leg of its "40th Anniversary European Tour" on June 3 at Logomo in Turku, Finland.

"Parasomnia" came out on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP marked DREAM THEATER's first release with Portnoy since 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings".

"Parasomnia" was produced by guitarist John Petrucci, engineered by James "Jimmy T" Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme returned once again to lend his creative vision to the cover art.

"Parasomnia" is an eight-song, 71-minute set which was recorded at DREAM THEATER's DTHQ studio on Long Island, New York. It is the follow-up to 2021's "A View From The Top Of The World", which debuted at in the top 10 of Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Rock Albums and Independent Albums charts. Six songs on "Parasomnia" are over seven minutes and the closing epic "The Shadow Man Incident" clocks in at nearly 20 minutes.

The North American leg of DREAM THEATER's 40th-anniversary tour kicked off on February 7 at The Met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The trek was "An Evening With Dream Theater" and was the first tour of North America since Portnoy's return to the lineup, joining Petrucci, LaBrie, Myung and Rudess. The tour concluded on March 22 in New York City.

Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung started DREAM THEATER as MAJESTY in 1985, after meeting at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston. LaBrie came on board in 1991, while Rudess joined in 1999.

Prior to Portnoy's return to DREAM THEATER, the drummer and Petrucci worked together on the latter's 2020 solo album, "Terminal Velocity", and toured together. Portnoy and Petrucci also joined Rudess and bassist Tony Levin for a third studio album as LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT in 2021.

Progressive metal veterans SYMPHONY X kicked off their summer/fall 2025 North American tour last night (Thursday, September 4) at Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Fan-filmed video of the concert can be seen below.

According to Setlist.fm, the setlist for the show was as follows:

01. Nevermore
02. Underworld (performed for the first time since 2016)
03. Dehumanized
04. Evolution (The Grand Design)
05. Communion And The Oracle (first since 2007)
06. Inferno (Unleash The Fire)
07. Domination (first since 2019)
08. Eve Of Seduction (first since 2015)
09. Set The World On Fire (The Lie Of Lies)

Encore:

10. Without You
11. To Hell And Back
12. Sea Of Lies

In a recent interview with Rev. Tom Brice of Sportzwire Radio, SYMPHONY X bassist Mike LePond spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's long-awaited follow-up to 2015's "Underworld" album. He said: "We are getting closer. And, yeah, the fans, they're clamoring for a new album. I can't blame 'em. It's been 10 years. If JUDAS PRIEST didn't come out with an album for 10 years, I'd be pretty mad too. We have been writing it. We have most of the parts kind of together. Now it's just a matter of recording it, really. So, it's definitely coming. And if things stay on track the way they are, we're thinking next year [it will be out], so we're excited. I mean, the stuff sounds really, really cool. And believe me, I want you guys to hear it as soon as possible."

Regarding the musical direction of the new SYMPHONY X material, Mike said: "Well, the 'Underworld' record, I felt, encompassed a bunch of SYMPHONY X styles. I think the new record, judging from what I've been hearing, it's gonna even more kind of be like a summary of SYMPHONY X's career, as far as our musical directions. 'Cause we went on a few directions. There was a point in our career where we got noticeably heavier and a little more straighter."

LePond went on to elaborate on the reasons for the delay in putting out new SYMPHONY X music, explaining: "With SYMPHONY X, there's tremendous pressure on us to consistently do great records. Our fans, they're really diehard fans and they're so supportive and they expect only excellence from us. So that's always in the back of our mind. So, if we're working on something and maybe it's good, but we're not sure, we won't use it. We're only gonna put songs on the record that we feel are excellent and worthy of the fans. So absolutely that plays a role. But the other things too — you had COVID, and in and out of touring. Once you start touring, then you forget about the writing and then you come back to it and then you forget where you left off and you start again."

During this year's 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise, LePond told Metal Anthology about the band's follow-up to "Underworld": "[We've been working on new material for] many years. A bunch of years. We are working on a new album, and it's gonna have all the cool stuff you guys like. It's gonna have the big symphonic stuff, it's gonna have the heavy riffs, it's gonna have the classical [elements as well]. It's gonna have all that stuff in there."

He continued: "When we write, it just takes time, because [SYMPHONY X guitarist and main songwriter] Michael Romeo, his rule [is] there's no filler songs, no songs that are, like, 'Ah, it's not bad.' And it goes in the garbage. They've all gotta be where at least we think they're all great. They all have to be that.

"The fans are, like, 'Hey, it's been so long.' But we promise you it's coming," Mike added. "It's gonna be good."

Asked if there will be a longer song on the upcoming SYMPHONY X album, considering "Underworld" contained mostly "shorter, more straightforward" tracks, Mike said: "We're still thinking where we wanna go with that. There's gonna be something crazy epic on it. We just don't know how we're gonna present it yet. But with all the newer technology for the symphonic stuff, it's gonna be monstrous."

LePond added: "So, yeah, we're excited to finally do it again. When it's time to record the bass, I'll been sweating for days, but once it's done… I have this routine. Once I finish all my bass tracks and I'm just so tired and wiped out, I go to McDonald's [fast food restaurant chain]. That's the only time I go, and it's, like, 'Ah.' My comfort."

Last October, Romeo told the "Coffee With Ola" podcast about the upcoming SYMPHONY X LP: "With us, it's not like, 'Oh, yeah, we're just gonna write one — how do you say? — single, and then just have a bunch of filler. It's, like, everything's gotta be as good as it can be. So, yeah, it gets harder and it takes longer. Then you throw in COVID and a bunch of other things, and then it's just, like, 'Oh, shit.' Now it's, like, I don't know — eight years or something. I lost track.

"What's different now than in the past is that we could take a bunch of time off. There would be some royalties from CDs back in the day coming in and kind of float on the downtime and really get the record done and then come back out [with a] new record, tour. So now it's, like, well, that money's gone. So we have to tour a little bit, keep things going, work on the record, go back out. So it's been like that for a while. And for me — I do most of the writing, so for me it's hard because you're sitting in the studio for whatever month, 'I got this idea,' and you're trying to put these things together, and it's, like, 'Oh, we've gotta go on tour now.' All right, cool. We do our thing. And then you come back, and it's, like, 'What the fuck was I working on again? Was this riff here?' And so you're trying to arrange all this stuff. And then you're, like, 'Oh, I've got all these new ideas.' So then you keep adding. And then after a long period of time, it's, like, 'Oh my god, there's so much stuff I can't even manage it now.' Plenty of material — like three hours of stuff — but now it's actually making sense."

Elaborating on when SYMPHONY X might be done composing the material for the next album, Michael said: "It's gonna take some time to organize everything. It's not like there's nothing there. It's [not], like, 'Oh, man, we have to start from scratch.' There's quite a bit. It's actually overwhelming. I never remember being this overwhelmed by the amount of stuff, 'cause over the last year and a half or whatever, every time there was a break, it's, like, 'Okay, I'll write something.' I didn't stop and [go], like, 'Well, let me finish this.' It was, like, boom, 'I got all these ideas,' and I just kept going. So now it's, like, all right, no more writing. Now more arranging."

SYMPHONY X completed an extensive tour behind "Underworld" in 2016, including a U.S. run of shows with OVERKILL and a pair of headlining performances in Australia.

In July 2017, SYMPHONY X singer Russell Allen and his ADRENALINE MOB bandmates were involved in a crash that killed the latter group's bassist, David Zablidowsky.

In 2019, Allen — who has toured with TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA since 2013 — was injured during the rehearsals for TSO's annual winter trek and was unable to make the tour.

Romeo released his latest solo album, "War Of The Worlds Pt. 2", in March 2022 via InsideOut Music. The record featured guest vocals by Dino Jelusick (WHITESNAKE, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA).

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, "Babylon". The track, like "Dead Man's Hand", which came out in August, "Strangers In Paradise", which came out in July, "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 on October 3 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM).

DIRKSCHNEIDER & THE OLD GANG comments: "'Babylon' is an absolutely worthy title track. Featuring a pounding, ultra-hard riff, plus the vocal melodies of Udo, Peter and Manuela that transport you straight into a fairy tale from 'One Thousand And One Nights'. The guitar arrangements and especially Mathias's solo guitar work support the imaginative atmosphere and drive the song to its absolute climax."

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

Brandon Ellis (pictured; ex-THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER) will stand in for CANNIBAL CORPSE guitarist Rob Barrett on the Florida death metal veterans' U.S. tour this summer/fall. The trek, featuring support from MUNICIPAL WASTE, FULL OF HELL and FULCI, will kick off on September 15 in Nashville, Tennessee and conclude on October 22 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Earlier today (Wednesday, September 2),Ellis shared the following message via his social media: "I will be playing guitar with CANNIBAL CORPSE this fall, standing in for Rob Barrett. I'm honored to help out and put on a killer death metal show for you all. See you there!"

Ellis announced his departure from THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER in February.

Brandon, who made his name in fellow American death metallers ARSIS before replacing Ryan Knight in THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER in 2016, contributed to three albums during his near-decade stint in the latter group. Two of those featured the band's original vocalist Trevor Strnad, who passed in 2022.

CANNIBAL CORPSE's sixteenth studio album, "Chaos Horrific", was released in September 2023 via Metal Blade Records.

Since 1988, CANNIBAL CORPSE have been at the forefront of death metal, shaping and defining the genre. In 2021, they raised the stakes again with "Violence Unimagined". And in 2023, the band's thirty-fifth anniversary, they returned with its successor, the equally monstrous "Chaos Horrific", starting a new chapter in their storied legacy.

CANNIBAL CORPSE guitarist/producer Erik Rutan has now helmed six of the band's albums, starting with 2006's "Kill". This is Rutan's second release as a full-fledged member, since officially joining in 2020.

"Chaos Horrific" was recorded at Rutan's Mana Studio in Florida.

I will be playing guitar with Cannibal Corpse this fall, standing in for Rob Barrett. I'm honored to help out and put on...

Posted by Brandon Ellis on Wednesday, September 3, 2025

US power metal luminaries, Kamelot, have today shared an instrumental demo of “Millennium”, taken from their forthcoming deluxe 3CD and 5LP boxset, Ascension (1995-1998). The set brings together the band’s first three full-lengths and is set for release on September 19.

Stream “Millennium” (Instrumental Demo 1998) and pre-order the set here, and check out the visualizer below:



Kamelot’s Eternity, Dominion and Siége Perilous are brought together on vinyl for the very first time with a new remaster from Jacob Hansen (Volbeat and Epica), as well as previously unreleased demo tracks for “Look Through These King’s Eyes”, “Millennium” and “Eternal Flame”. Having been out of print for two decades, Ascension 1995-1998 is a deluxe box-set package with curation handled by guitarist/songwriter, Thomas Youngblood.

Ascension 1995-1998 showcases the origins of Kamelot, from original vocalist Mark Vanderbilt’s two album tenure on Eternity and Dominion all the way through to the introduction of long-term talismanic vocalist Roy Khan on his studio debut, Siége Perilous, in 1998.

Accompanying the boxset is a 20 page full-colour booklet with in-depth liner notes, featuring a fascinating insight into the band’s history through interviews with Thomas Youngblood, and a full-color poster.



The LP box set includes:

– Eternity (2LP color vinyl with etched D-side, remastered)
– Dominion (1LP color vinyl, remastered)
– Siége Perilous (2LP color vinyl, remastered – featuring previously unreleased bonus tracks, “Look Through These King’s Eyes” (demo), “Millennium” (instrumental demo), and “Eternal Flame” (demo)
– 20 page full color booklet
– Full color poster

The CD box set includes:

– Eternity Remastered
– Dominion Remastered
– Siége Perilous Remastered – featuring previously unreleased bonus tracks, “Look Through These King’s Eyes” (demo), “Millennium” (instrumental demo), and “Eternal Flame” (demo)
– 20 page full color booklet
– Full color poster



Tracklisting:

Eternity:

“Eternity”
“Black Tower”
“Call Of The Sea”
“Proud Nomad”
“Red Sands”
“One Of The Hunted”
“Fire Within”
“Warbird”
“What About Me”
“Etude Jongleur”
“The Gleeman”

Dominion:

“Ascension”
“Heaven”
“Rise Again”
“One Day I’ll Win”
“We Are Not Separate”
“Birth Of A Hero”
“Creation”
“Sin”
“Song Of Roland”
“Crossing Two Rivers”
“Troubled Mind”

Siege Perilous:

“Providence”
“Milllennium”
“King’s Eyes”
“Expedition”
“Where I Reign”
“Rhydin”
“Parting Visions”
“Once A Dream”
“Irea”
“Siege”
“We Three Kings”
“One Day”
“Look Through These Kings Eyes” (Kings Eyes Demo)*
“Milllennium” (Instrumental Demo)*
“Eternal Flame” (Once A Dream Demo)*

* previously unreleased

SYSTEM OF A DOWN frontman Serj Tankian returns with a stunning new solo project, "Covers, Collaborations & Collages" — a genre-spanning collection that celebrates artistic unity, reinvention, and storytelling.

The second single, "I'm Counting On You", is available today, via Serjical Strike Records/Create Music Group, as part of a ten-week release schedule where a new track will drop each week, culminating in the full compilation album, due on October 24, 2025.

This deeply personal and eclectic body of work features Tankian's powerful reinterpretations and remarkable collaborations. Among the highlights is a beautifully haunting cover of Chris De Burgh's "I'm Counting On You", reimagined with Tankian's unmistakable emotional intensity.

"Covers, Collaborations & Collages" showcases striking creative partnerships with some of today's most innovative artists. Tankian joins with lauded producer Deadmau5 on the hypnotic "A Seed", New Zealand singer/songwriter Bic Runga's ethereal voice weaves with Tankian's in the duet "Things Unspoken", and acclaimed composer Lucas Vidal creates a sonic canvas upon which Tankian vocally illustrates a scene of the devolution of civilization and the end times, bellowing "There are no more empires / Just burning campfires" on the powerful and cinematic "Apocalyptic Dance".

Rounding out the collection, Tankian's cover of Armenian songwriter Ruben Hakhverdyan's "When Death Arrives" is a poignant reminder of the reality of our mortality, musing through the eyes of the departed and reminding listeners of the undeniable importance love and truth hold in this world.

Adding a visual dimension to the music, each single's artwork, and the album's evocative main cover, has been created by artist D.S. Bradford, who also contributes lead guitar work on the soaring track "Kneeling Away From The Sun".

With each weekly release, Tankian will share the inspirations and stories, inspirations, and artistic intentions behind the songs, inviting listeners into the creative process like never before.

"Similar to 'Foundations', these are pre-existing archival recordings, some of them from way back," says Tankian. "I wanted to put out a record of collaborations I haven't released before, along with covers, which I haven't done. The rest, the collages, are parts that fit the puzzle in the same tone, the same vibe."

"Covers, Collaborations & Collages" track listing:

01. Electric Dreams
02. A Seed (feat. Deadmau5)
03. I'm Counting On You
04. I'm In Heaven
05. Things Unspoken (feat. Bic Runga)
06. I Found You
07. Kneeling Away From The Sun
08. Apocalyptical Dance (feat. Lucas Vidal)
09. Sonic Expulsions
10. When Death Arrives

Tankian's autobiography, "Down With The System", was released in May 2024 via Hachette Books.

Tankian is best known as the lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning rock band SYSTEM OF A DOWN, but he is also a solo artist, composer, activist, painter, poet, and filmmaker. Since launching on to the rock scene in 1993, he's performed for millions of fans and sold more than 42 million albums worldwide. He's also a proud Armenian-American and a dedicated activist; along with Tom Morello, Tankian co-founded the non-profit organization Axis Of Justice, which strived to bring together musicians, music fans, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. He has composed scores for many films and television series, had his paintings exhibited in galleries in the U.S. and New Zealand, and released two books of his own poetry. He has also been an executive producer on multiple documentaries, including "I Am Not Alone", which tells the story of Armenia's 2018 revolution and which won awards at the Toronto International Film Festival, DOC NYC, American Film Institute Festival, and the Palm Springs International Film Festival, among others. Tankian lives with his wife and his son, splitting their time between Los Angeles and New Zealand.

SYSTEM OF A DOWN has toured intermittently since ending its hiatus in 2011, but has only managed to record two songs in the last 20 years, "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz". Released in November 2020, the tracks were motivated by the conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, with all proceeds supporting humanitarian efforts in SYSTEM OF A DOWN's ancestral homeland of Armenia. Along with other donations from fans on their social pages, they raised over $600,000.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

Canadian instrumental progressive metal quartet Phaeton returns with their third full-length album, Neurogenesis, out on October 24, 2025, via INB Music, along with it being made available on vinyl later this year. The record is a tightly wound, interstellar journey through melody, muscle, and mind-expanding musicality. With no vocals, no limits, Phaeton lets their instruments do the talking, creating emotional landscapes without a single lyric.

The album’s title refers to the birth of new neural pathways, fitting for a band that thrives on cerebral complexity and visceral impact. “Neurogenesis” builds on the foundation laid by their previous releases, Self-Titled (2018) and Between Two Worlds (2023), but sharpens the focus with more concise compositions that never sacrifice imagination. Each track is a self-contained universe, yet together they form a cohesive anthology of sonic exploration. Fans will also be delighted to hear that keyboard wizard Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Planet X, Sons of Apollo) guests on the track “Isochron”.

The album artwork, created by Calgary visual artist Matt Semenok, features a suspended human brain infused with bioelectricity and cybernetic implants, a chilling nod to the accelerating march of technology and the psychological lag it leaves behind. Think H.R. Giger meets Bill Sienkiewicz in a dystopian dreamscape.

Today, the band unveils the first single, “Tethys Rising,” which was written by bassist Ferdy Belland. It is a triumphant, high-energy track inspired by the astronomy art of Chesley Bonestell and Belland’s own dream of setting foot on Saturn’s moon.

The band comments:

“This was the first complete song that Ferdy wrote for us. He’s big into astronomy, and he loves the retro sci-fi art of Chesley Bonestell, who illustrated this classic image of Saturn as viewed from the surface of its moon Tethys. So he comes up right out of the blue with this tune with all these busier-than-hell riffs. He was nervous at first about submitting his own stuff, since he wanted what he presented to us to be as strong as the songs Kevin and Daniel normally write, but we were encouraging, and “Tethys Rising” certainly matches up in power and quality to anything we’ve written. Ferdy wants to be the first human astronaut on Tethys, for real, but in the meantime, he can celebrate it in song.”

Formed from a fusion of four seasoned musicians, Colin Righton, Daniel Airth, Kevin Thiessen, and Ferdy Belland, Phaeton was born from a hunch and a history. Righton had played with each member in separate bands and sensed that combining their talents would spark something extraordinary. Nearly a decade later, that spark has become a supernova.

From Devin Townsend and Rush to Meshuggah and Gojira, Phaeton blends prog, tech-death, thrash, and djent into a kaleidoscope of sound.

Beyond Neurogenesis, fans can look forward to the 22-minute epic “Clouds Of Mercury” slated for release as a standalone EP in 2026, and the band’s fourth album Quartum expected in 2027. With new material already brewing, Phaeton shows no signs of slowing its cosmic ascent.

Preorder on Bandcamp.



Tracklisting:

“Tethys Rising”
“Discontinuum”
“Isochron” feat. Derek Sherinian
“Arachnid”
“Augmented”
“Neurogenesis”

In a new interview with Adam Richmond of the "Surviving Rocklahoma" podcast, former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach weighed in on a debate about people using an A.I. (artificial intelligence) music generator as a tool to create melodies, harmonies and rhymes based on artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models. Bach said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've gotta address this, especially in the last three months or so, we're entering this A.I. world, where musicians are getting very scared because now it seems like anybody can just say into an A.I. prompt, 'Give me a '70s rock song about partying and chicks,' and there you go; you get one. But all I can tell you is this, you've known me for almost 40 years, and I'm just giving you my guarantee and my word that I'll never do that. I will never give you any A.I. I won't even give you 'I', and I certainly won't give you 'A'. What I'm saying is I'd rather have a real human mistake than a perfect artificial intelligence. Fuck artificial, number one. How about real? That's what you're gonna get from me till the day that I stop doing this. And I don't know how to use that stuff, and I won't work with any producers that use that. You're just gonna get some knucklehead musicians in the studio making music, and that's what you're gonna get from me. Like Neil Young or Willie Nelson or Gregg Allman, that's what you're gonna get from me till the day I stop doing this. And so I don't have to worry about A.I., because if you believe what I'm telling you, then what you're gonna get from me is just me. Love it or leave it."

Asked if he feels like music is going away or is under threat of losing its soul, Sebastian said: "No. I can only speak for myself, and I did 91 cities last year — 91. So with travel days and days off, that's, like, 225 days that I'm gone playing rock and roll. So I get more than enough rock in my life. So I can only speak for me. I have such a schedule of concerts coming up that I am overwhelmed. And so I don't know how to answer that other than I'm gonna be playing all over America. We're going to Australia. We've got gigs booked into 2026 already. So it just keeps rolling. And I've gotta answer this by, when we lose a guy like Ozzy Osbourne, and so many of our heroes are leaving us — I mean, I look around and there's not many guys that do what I do. There's not."

Asked if he thinks musicians "have it easier today" than he did when he first started out nearly four decades ago, Bach said: "Well, yeah. One of the reasons — I remember when Neil Peart of RUSH passed on. It really hit me so hard, and I was like, 'Why?' Well, I knew, 'cause I'm a RUSH fanatic and I'm Canadian, number one, so it's part of my DNA, but really what it came down to, I think why I was so sad was because I don't think we're ever gonna see a drummer on that level ever again because none of them are gonna put in the time to practice that much as Neil Peart did, because he didn't have the benefit or the crutch of technology to rely upon, which all these kids are having click tracks and all this stuff in their head. And I don't think we're gonna see a drummer the level of Neil Peart from RUSH ever again. Maybe we will, but he didn't have any other choice in the '70s other than to lock himself in a room and pound the fuck out of those fucking drums. And he was the best."

Circling back to the use of artificial intelligence in music, Sebastian said: "Why did we, as humans, why did we invent this A.I. shit that has the potential to take us out? Why invent that? I guess it's good for medical purposes, maybe curing cancer or something, but we don't need them to write songs for us. That's stupid. We don't need to have a meme of Michael Jackson and Ozzy and Dimebag Darrell in heaven having a drink. Fuck all that weird shit. That just gives me the creeps when I see that. It's, like, 'Get that off the screen.' It's like from hell or something. [Laughs]"

Bach's current touring band includes his son Paris Bach on drums, "Bruiser" Brody DeRozie on guitar, and Fede Delfino on bass.

2024 was a remarkable year for the singer, songwriter, author, Broadway star and actor. "Child Within The Man" — his first album in more than 10 years — was well-received, with Associated Press saying "…it shows a fierce performer in prime fighting form…his vocals remain sharp and his songwriting talents as cunning as ever," while Ultimate Classic Rock noted: "Bach's voice has lost none of its rage or range, even in the highest registers…" In addition, the album's "(Hold On) To The Dream" track was included in Consequence's "30 Best Metal & Hard Rock Songs Of 2024" which described the song as "...a late-career masterpiece from the former SKID ROW singer. Baz hits some of the highest notes of his career on the sweeping ballad, an inspiring anthem about perseverance."

On the touring front, Sebastian performed a record 91 shows in 2024. The dates included two successful North American tours — one around the release of the album, followed by another leg of fall shows — and a series of overseas appearances just before the album's release.

In January, Sebastian was back on TV when he appeared on Food Network's "Worst Cooks In America Celebrity Edition: Heroes vs. Villains". In addition, last June Sebastian was the subject of an A&E "Biography: Rock Legends" special. This follows his 2023 appearance as "Tiki" on Fox's "The Masked Singer".

"Child Within The Man" has yielded the following singles/videos, all of which have impacted the rock charts: "Freedom", "What Do I Got To Lose?", "Everybody Bleeds" and "(Hold On) To The Dream" (along with the "(Hold On) To The Dream" alternate video),"Future Of Youth" and "To Live Again".

"Child Within The Man" was recorded in Orlando, Florida; produced and mixed by Michael "Elvis" Baskette; engineered by Jef Moll, assistant engineered by Josh Saldate and mastered by Robert Ludwig of Gateway Mastering. Bach wrote or co-wrote all the album's 11 tracks and sang all lead and backing vocals.

"Child Within The Man" features guest appearances from John 5 (MÖTLEY CRÜE, ROB ZOMBIE, MARILYN MANSON),Steve Stevens (BILLY IDOL) and Orianthi (ALICE COOPER, MICHAEL JACKSON) — who all co-wrote their respective tracks with Bach — and two tracks co-written with ALTER BRIDGE's Myles Kennedy ("What Do I Got to Lose?" and "To Live Again"). Devin Bronson (guitars),Todd Kerns (bass) and Jeremy Colson (drums) round out the players on the album.

Prior to "Child Within The Man"'s arrival, Bach hadn't released a full-length disc since "Give 'Em Hell", which came out in March 2014.

Canadian-born Rick Hughes is renowned for his powerful voice as the lead singer of the legendary metal band SWORD, and of the hard-rock band SAINTS & SINNERS, as well as a seasoned performer with hundreds of headlining shows in Canada, America, Europe and Japan over the years, and his superb stage performances while opening for bands such as METALLICA, MOTÖRHEAD, Alice Cooper and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY. So when it was time for him to record "Redemption", his first international solo album, he spared no expenses and efforts to make this album a great one, hiring producer John Webster (AEROSMITH, MÖTLEY CRÜE, AC/DC) and renting HippoSonic Recording Studio (formerly known as Little Mountain Studios) in Vancouver to record this opus.

The first salvo is coming out September 5, 2025, and it is quite an event in itself: his first single and video is a supercharged version of THE WHO's classic "The Real Me" — reuniting after 43 years Ozzy Osbourne's superband consisting of Brad Gillis on guitar, Rudy Sarzo on bass and Tommy Aldridge on drums. This is the band that did the last leg of the "Diary Of A Madman" tour in 1982 after the tragic departure of the great Randy Rhoads, and that then recorded Ozzy's classic live album "Speak Of The Devil".

The resulting sound is epic, and so is the spectacular video that was shot and directed by Matthew Lucas ("Kringle Time", "Moonshot", "We Meet Again") at the state-of-the-art L.A. Castle Studios, with post and editing by Montreal's Jean-Marc Laurin ("Jurassic World", "Star Wars: The Force Awakens", "Game Of Thrones", "Assassin's Creed").

"'The Real Me' stands as a cornerstone of my album 'Redemption'," says Rick. "As a lifelong fan of THE WHO, I wanted to pay tribute to the golden age of '70s rock. To capture that spirit, I brought together a true supergroup with Tommy Aldridge, Rudy Sarzo and Brad Gillis, a unique moment where legends unite to breathe new life into a classic."

This very special song is part of the upcoming Rick Hughes album "Redemption", a collection of great rock songs to be released on Friday, October 24, 2025 on CD, vinyl, and digital format worldwide by Deko Entertainment, and featuring more great collaborations with some famous musicians.

Included are two more songs featuring the superb songwriting and inspired guitar playing of the great Brad Gillis, another featuring the extraordinary talent of THE DOORS legendary guitarist Robby Krieger, and great contributions from rock royalty Lee Aaron, vocal powerhouse Amy Keys (Ringo Starr, Phil Collins, TOTO, Sting, Stevie Wonder),rising guitar hot shot Jacob Deraps, as well as Rick's gifted sister Lulu Hughes.

With its great performances, "Redemption" is a very special and unique rock album that brings together seven songs in English, one bilingual and two songs in French.

"Redemption" track listing:

Vinyl version:

Side A:

01. Dead End Road
02. Croire En l'Homme
03. The Real Me
04. Carry The Torch
05. Will Of The Gun

Side B:

01. Shake My Soul
02. Someday
03. Dans La Peau
04. In A Perfect World
05. Ça Va Brasser

CD version:

01. Dead End Road
02. Croire En L'homme
03. The Real Me
04. Carry The Torch
05. Will Of The Gun
06. Shake My Soul
07. Someday
08. Dans La Peau
09. In A Perfect World
10. Ça Va Brasser
11. Dans La Peau (French version) (bonus track)

Pick up the limited-edition bundle (100 copies) that includes a collectible seven-inch vinyl of "The Real Me" signed by Rick Hughes, Brad Gillis, Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo at this location.

Sarzo spoke about his latest collaboration with Gillis and Aldridge this past January in an interview with with Rock Your Faith Out. He said at the time: "There's a singer named Rick Hughes. He's in a band called SWORD in Montreal, Canada. His manager contacted Tommy, Brad and me and asked each individually if we wanted to play on one song off his record. I'm not gonna disclose what the song is. I can tell you it's not an Ozzy or BLACK SABBATH song. It's not; it's not at all. It has nothing to do with anything that we have done together in the past, except it's us playing together. There's no tie to what we did in the past."

He continued: "It's not really a project; it is a one-off, an appearance. And so we did the song about three or four months ago — that's when I did my track — separately. Tommy did his, and I did mine, and then Brad did his. That's how we all were able to do it because we live in different parts of the world. So then they asked us if we wanted to be in the video. And I figured, 'Well, I already played on the track, and I like what I played. So I might as well be on the video.' And that's what we did. We got together [in late November] and we made a video.

"We were just basically hired to do this," Rudy explained. "We're not part of something. Because I already have my something, which is QUIET RIOT, and I'm very busy with that something."

Gillis first revealed his involvement with Sarzo and Aldridge on the aforementioned recording last November. He wrote on his social media at the time: "Excited about recording a classic cover song and filming a video to be released in early 2025….. Getting together with my ol' Ozzy buddies Rudy Sarzo (bass) and Tommy Aldridge (drums) and talented Canadian vocalist Rick Hughes was a BLAST! More to come soon!!!"

Formed in 1980 in Montreal, SWORD (not to be confused with THE SWORD, a great doom metal band that came out over 20 years later) released its Combat Records debut, "Metalized", in 1986, punctuated by the band's precise thrash attack, and the soaring vocals of Rick Hughes, summed up by Kerrang!'s Mark Putterford as such; "My eyes are a painful shade of purple. My ears are ringing tortuously. My mouth is awash with blood and broken teeth, I've just been ten rounds with a Montreal mob called SWORD. "

SWORD was hand-picked by METALLICA to open the Quebec leg of the "Master Of Puppets" tour, Alice Cooper's Canadian "Return Of The Nightmare" tour and then crisscrossed the U.K. with the mighty Lemmy on MOTÖRHEAD's "Rock N' Roll" tour. "Metalized" was followed up by the heavy but diverse "Sweet Dreams" in 1988.

After a short U.S. tour promoting "Sweet Dreams", SWORD started work on its third album when all hell broke loose, and a parting of ways ensued. Until 2011, when they reunited for a few select shows in Canada and Germany and found the urge to go back in the studio to pick up where they had left off.

The quartet soon ended up right back where they started, after connecting with Thom Hazaert and then-MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson, and their relaunched Combat Records, which immediately released "Live: Hammersmith", a live recording of a "Metalized"-era SWORD show supporting MOTÖRHEAD at England's fabled Hammersmith Odeon.

“Hush Hush Project”

Excited about recording a classic cover song and filming a video to be released in early 2025….....

Posted by Brad Gillis on Wednesday, November 13, 2024

In a new interview with Metal Mayhem ROC, legendary vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes was asked how he was affected by the recent passing of BLACK SABBATH's iconic singer Ozzy Osbourne. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I've known Ozzy and [fellow BLACK SABBATH members] Geezer [Butler] and Tony [Iommi] and Bill [Ward] since 1970. They took off that year with 'Paranoid', and I was very friendly with them back then. So I've known those guys for 55 years. So when we lose someone — we, as the general public, lose someone — we lose icons and famous people. But I've lost family members.

"Ozzy was one of my closest friends, especially in the '70s when we lived eight miles from one another," Glenn continued. "He spent a lot of time at my house. I spent a lot of time at his house. He wanted me to be in a band with him in 1979 when he left SABBATH. And at that time I didn't wanna go back to playing bass guitar and singing second vocals, with respect, 'cause I love Ozzy very much. I just wanted to be the Glenn Hughes we all know now — lead-singing bass player. So I had to decline that. But all through these years, Ozzy's been very, very close to me.

"Ozzy was one of the most genuine guys you will ever meet — genuine, loving, kind human beings," Glenn added.

Hughes worked with Iommi on "Seventh Star" (1986),and later reunited with the BLACK SABBATH guitarist for "Fused" (2005),in addition to being featured on the "1996 DEP Sessions" (2004) collection of previously unreleased material.

Glenn's new studio album "Chosen", is being released on September 5 via Frontiers Music Srl.

In early June, Hughes released the official music video for the "Chosen" title track. It was followed by the "Voice In My Head" video a month later. In early August, Glenn shared "Into The Fade".

This year will also see Hughes busy touring across Europe and South America, with "The Chosen Years" tour starting in Zoetermeer, Netherlands, on September 2 and ending on November 29 in Bogota, Colombia.

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

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

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

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

Glenn has collaborated with Robbie Williams on his new single "Rocket", which was released on May 22, 2025. The track also features a collaboration from Iommi and will be the first time Glenn has been featured on a record with Tony since 2005, when they released "Fused" together.

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