Acapella metal masters, Van Canto, return with their energetic and unique Rakkatakka-power and are set to release their eighth inimitable offering, To The Power Of Eight, on June 4 via Napalm Records. Prepare for an outstanding vocal offering smashing in with full force! The record marks another milestone in the band's impressive career and presents Van Canto as a coherent entity stronger than ever.

With an impressive new teaser, Van Canto draw their devotees into a flawless universe and sonic adventure to deliver a glimpse of what can be expected in this multifaceted spectrum of vocal virtuosity. Adapted to the visual concept of the new record, this promising insight allows every band member to shine in high profile: A hypnotizing, harmonizing layer of drums smooths the way for vocal interpretation that only Van Canto can offer.

Van Canto states: “The teaser presents an epic intro of our new album and heats up the anticipation for all twelve tracks in total: Eight original numbers and four cover versions (Iron Maiden, Amon Amarth, Queen and AC/DC). From ballads to proper double bass, you can find everything in there!”

Bringing pure vocal power to the metal world since 2006, Van Canto set the stage for their very own genre and never failed in surprising their fans and beyond, while showcasing that metal can be heavy as hell without any riffage. With their previous full length, Trust in Rust (2018), the German rarity reworked its lineup, consisting of seven members since then. For To The Power Of Eight, the unit once again joined forces with Philip Dennis “Sly” Schunke, who had been the lead singer on their first six studio records. Sly joins lead vocalists Inga Scharf and Hagen Hirschmann on all twelve flawless tracks as third vocalist and special guest. It’s clear that this peerless piece of music was written with three voices in mind: To The Power Of Eight embodies a special sense of common bond and presents Van Canto in undeniable peak form.

Van Canto on the new album: “Being able to present an album after 15 years of band history, where three lead singers share the microphone hand in hand, makes us incredibly proud. Due to the pandemic situation we had a lot of time to work on To The Power Of Eight and put all our heart and soul into the compositions, the arrangements and the production. Originally we planned to have Sly as guest vocalist for one song – but it turned out to be twelve in total in the end. If someone would ask for one record to present Van Canto the most suitable way, we would choose To The Power Of Eight.”

From their own original speed driven tracks, like flaring “Dead By The Night”, raise-your-fist animated “Heads Up High” or mid-tempo, heart-warming “Turn Back Time”, to anthemic heavy metal covers such as Amon Amarth’s “Raise Your Horns”, Iron Maiden’s “Run To The Hills” or AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”, Van Canto always manages to easily serve their own unique take with every output. On the one hand, To The Power Of Eight reflects a well experienced collective that has gathered several top 50 entries on the German album charts and played numerous shows around the globe and festivals like 70k Tons Of Metal, Wacken and Masters of Rock. But at the same time, it presents these energetic visionaries of acapella metal, who are far from resting on what they’ve achieved so far.

To The Power Of Eight will be available in the following formats:

- 1 LP Gatefold
- 1 CD Digipack
- Digital Album

Pre-order here.

To The Power Of Eight tracklisting:

"To The Power Of Eight"
"Dead By The Night"
"Faith Focus Finish"
"Falling Down"
"Heads Up High"
"Raise Your Horns"
"Turn Back Time"
"Run To The Hills"
"Hardrock Padlock"
"Thunderstruck"
"From The End"
"I Want It All"

Van Canto is:

Hagen Hirschmann - Lead Vocals
Inga Scharf - Lead Vocals
Ross Thompson - Higher Rakkatakka Vocals
Stefan Schmidt - Lower Rakkatakka Vocals
Jan Moritz - Pad und Backing Vocals
Ingo Sterzinger - Bass and Backing Vocals
Bastian Emig - Drums and Backing Vocals

(Photo - Tim Tronckoe)




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Former SEPULTURA drummer Igor "Iggor" Cavalera recently launched a new video series, "Beneath The Drums", on his YouTube channel, where he dissects some of the best-known songs from his recording history. In the fourth episode, which can be seen below, he gives the backstory of the SEPULTURA song "Kamaitachi" and also performs a playthrough video of the track, originally taken from the band's 1998 album "Against".

This past January, Igor launched an account on Patreon, where he is offering exclusive content to his fans.

Igor's Patreon consists of two tiers. One of them is "Bloody Roots" ($30 monthly), where fans can obtain the drum tracks in Wav format to play together and learn, the complete list of all the equipment used in their recordings and several benefits to purchase limited merchandise products. They will also be able to participate in Patreon-only polls, watch behind-the-scenes content and livestreams. The VIP Patreon "Beneath The Drums" ($50 monthly) offers all the benefits of "Bloody Roots", plus online conversations via Zoom following each video premiere on YouTube. In the conversation with Igor, the fans will have a chance to learn in more depth how he worked on the track, followed by a question-and-answer session. They will also get early access to updates, tickets and releases.

Patreon is a crowdfunding service, where fans contribute pre-determined amounts to obtain exclusive access to content and rewards.

Igor left SEPULTURA in June 2006 due to "artistic differences." His departure from the band came five months after he announced that he was taking a break from SEPULTURA's touring activities to spend time with his second wife and their son (who was born in January 2006).

In 1996, Igor's brother, frontman Max Cavalera, exited SEPULTURA after the rest of the band split with Max's wife Gloria as their manager.

For a decade and a half, Igor has been part of the MIXHELL DJ/hip-hop/electro project with his wife Laima Leyton.

Two years ago, Igor teamed up with Wayne Adams (BIG LAD, DEATH PEDALS, JOHNNY BROKE) to form the PETBRICK project. The band's debut album, "I", was released in October 2019 via Closed Casket Activities in the U.S.

Igor's other current musical projects include CAVALERA CONSPIRACY (alongside Max) and SOULWAX.

METALLICA's Kirk Hammett has collaborated with the Muddy Waters Coffee Company, a small roasting coffee company based in McKinleyville, California, on a new dark roast that is 100% organic, fair trade-certified and so damn good you'll drink it black.

When Hammett wanted to find a way to combine two things that inspire him daily — coffee and the guitar known as "Greeny" — Muddy Waters Coffee Company offered a simple solution: coffee that was itself inspired by the legendary 1959 Les Paul made famous by FLEETWOOD MAC's Peter Green. A coffee with notes and tones that will inspire you to have a musical day, the Greeny Blues Blend is a rich, full-bodied dark roast with notes of dark chocolate, earth and tropical fruit. This blend merges Indonesian and African beans for a deep flavor and complex finish. It contains just the right amount of punch to keep you jamming all day long!

Says Hammett: "Every Morning I want to wake up with the confidence that I'm going to be starting my day with coffee that holds quality in both taste and caffeination."

The Greeny Blues Blend will be released as a limited-production run, with only 2,500 available at launch.

A longtime coffee lover, Hammett previously launched his own brand of coffee in 2017. The Ghoul Screamer blend from El Salvador was the result of a collaboration between Hammett and music industry veteran David Karon's KHDK Electronics firm and Dark Matter Coffee.




More details soon! #muddywaterscoffeecompany #greenybluesblend @fearfestevil pic.twitter.com/qXnFRHfaHM

— Kirk Hammett (@KirkHammett) March 24, 2021

PSYCHOSEXUAL, featuring former FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH drummer Jeremy Spencer on vocals as the Devil Daddy character, has dropped a new single, "Devil From Hell". A distorted twang gives way to his dusky baritone as Spencer announces: "I have only one burning desire…to set this motherfucking world on fire" before exploding into a powder keg of a chorus.

"It announces we're basically coming here to kill it as much as we can," Spencer shares about the track. "I found my own way and made my stance. This is the best way to introduce the world to this band. We're ready to make a fucking wave."

The song will appear on the band's forthcoming sophomore album, due out this spring.

Earlier this month, Spencer spoke to "Drag The Waters: The Pantera Podcast" about his decision to remove all the previously released music and videos from PSYCHOSEXUAL ahead of the arrival of "Devil From Hell".

"When you make records, they're like snapshots in time," Jeremy explained. "We made the first thing pretty fast, and I just threw it out independently. And we had started the next record right away, and 'Devil From Hell' happened. And I'm, like, 'Fuck, man. I really like this. I wish this would have been the first thing that we dropped.' So it's, like, you know what? Nobody even really knows much about the other music, which I do like, but I think this is more appropriate of where we kind of wanna debut; this is what I wanted to be the first thing. So it's kind of like a reboot — we're starting over. I'll release the other music down the road again, but this second record will technically be our first. [Laughs]"

Regarding "Devil From Hell", Jeremy said: "It's a little different than the previous material that we've been working on. It's a little heavier. We do all kinds of stuff — it's not just metal or whatever; it's kind of eclectic. But this one's definitely a stomper. I'm pretty happy with it. The video turned out really cool too."

Spencer, who handles lead vocals in PSYCHOSEXUAL, also addressed the negative reaction the band's early music videos received from the FIVE FINGER fans, some of whom were turned off by the new project's theatrical presentation and goth-flavored sound.

"That's okay," Jeremy said. "Not everyone's gonna dig what you do. I mean, it's how it is in DEATH PUNCH too; we would release stuff, and you get hated on. You can't please everyone. We always made records for ourselves, and then you hope people like it. You can't control it. And we were fortunate enough to have a large fanbase that did appreciate what we did. And I think we'll find the audience for this as well. It's not for everyone, but I'm doing what I love to do, and I'm a big fan of theatrics. I do like goth music, I do love metal. I'm gonna put it all in a blender, [and] it's gonna be a lot of fun. And I hope that people wanna join us on the journey. And when we finally get to play freakin' shows, hopefully people can come out and have a good time and see what we're all about."

PSYCHOSEXUAL released its debut album, "Torch The Faith", last July. It was co-produced by Spencer and Shawn McGhee (DROWNING POOL) and released via Spencer's 6eX Records. The debut premiered at No. 150 on the Billboard 200 chart, reaching No. 5 on the Hard Music Albums, No. 12 on Top New Artist Albums and No. 30 on Current Rock Albums.

PSYCHOSEXUAL's last release was the covers EP "Songs To Stalk You By", which came out last November. The EP reunited Spencer with former FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Jason Hook, who contributed solos on the KISS classic "Watchin' You" and QUEENSRŸCHE's "Gonna Get Close To You". The recordings marked the first time the pair had worked together since both parted ways with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH.

Spencer, who sports a Mephistophelian mask as Devil Daddy, is joined in PSYCHOSEXUAL by guitarist Crucifer, bassist Astaroth and drummer Volac.

Jeremy, who co-founded FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH with guitarist Zoltan Bathory, left the band so that he could undergo back surgery in the fall of 2018 that required a significant recovery period.

Spencer's replacement in FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is Charlie "The Engine" Engen. Engen made his recording debut with the band on the "F8" album, which came out in February 2020.

CANNIBAL CORPSE's new song "Murderous Rampage" can be streamed below. The track is taken the band's 15th studio album, "Violence Unimagined", which will be released on April 16 via Metal Blade Records.

Comprised of eleven tracks, "Violence Unimagined" is state-of-the-art death metal played with passion and breathless precision, making for another flawless addition to what is inarguably one of the premier catalogues the genre has thrown up. "It really follows the path we've been going down for a few years now," states bassist and founding member Alex Webster. "I think we approach the writing in a similar way most every time: each of us try to write the heaviest, most memorable songs we can. We want each song to have its own identifiable character. Showing my age, I like to say you can 'drop the needle' on any point of one of our albums and quickly tell which song you're listening to."

While they continue to do what they do with aplomb, the one substantial change to CANNIBAL CORPSE is the addition of guitarist Erik Rutan to their ranks, joining Webster, founding drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, guitarist Rob Barrett and vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. Known for his roles in MORBID ANGEL, RIPPING CORPSE and most notably fronting the mighty HATE ETERNAL, Rutan has long established himself as one of the most dynamic forces in contemporary death metal. Simultaneously, he has built up a reputation as one of the most in-demand producers in metal, having previously produced four CANNIBAL CORPSE albums (in addition to "Violence Unimagined"), alongside the likes of GOATWHORE, SOILENT GREEN and BELPHEGOR. Filling in live on guitar since 2019, in 2020 he became a full member, contributing to the writing process.

"I think the most noticeable difference on this record will be the addition of Erik to the band. He wrote three full songs for the record, music and lyrics, and his song writing and guitar playing have added something new, and I think his musical style integrated into ours very well," Webster enthuses. This is not all that he brings to the band. "He's a great friend of ours, so on a personal level, he's been a perfect fit, as we knew he would be. Beyond that, he's one of the hardest-working people I know, in music or otherwise, and he maintains a high-energy, positive demeanor in challenging situations where other people might go in a negative direction. This energy and great attitude rubs off on the rest of us as well. That's really a perfect situation to have when you add someone to a band, or any kind of team: someone who's great at what they do, and also inspires the people around them."

Already well known for the level of extreme technicality they bring to every record, on "Violence Unimagined", CANNIBAL CORPSE has further upped their game, particularly in Mazurkiewicz's drumming.

"I think we all pushed ourselves a bit technically on this one, with Paul probably pushing the hardest," Webster says. "This album is probably the most drum-intense album we've done yet. Part of that could be a result of Erik joining the band. His songwriting style often features technically challenging drumming, probably owing to his years of experience in high-speed death metal." And with typically dark and warped lyrical content, Mazurkiewicz came up with the fitting title of the record, "summing up what the band is about in every facet, and taking violence to another level of extremity."

With Rutan in the band, having him produce the record was a no-brainer at Mana Recording in St. Petersburg, Florida — his central base of operation. Using the studio for pre-production, rather than their rehearsal space as usual, was a great benefit early on, allowing them to come into the actual recording process better prepared than ever before. However, their plans to record the album entirely together were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with Webster forced to record his bass tracks in his home studio.

"I live on the other side of the country now, and that hadn't been an issue prior to the pandemic, I was still able to go to Florida whenever I needed to," Webster says. "So, I was scheduled to fly down for the recording in early April 2020, and of course that was at the very beginning of all of the lockdowns and travel restrictions in the USA, so I didn't go. Fortunately, I have a lot of experience recording bass tracks at home, so it didn't affect the sound of the album at all. I stayed in close contact with Erik and the other guys throughout the process, and it actually wound up being quite smooth. Of course, I'm looking forward to tracking in the big studio with the guys for the next album, but I'm glad this option worked well for us." And it would not be a CANNIBAL CORPSE album without striking artwork from Vince Locke, and "Violence Unimagined" is no different — this time, the cover featuring a mother eating her own baby, though Webster concedes that for censorship reasons, they have had Locke do a complementary piece that will be more widely released.

Now in CANNIBAL CORPSE's thirty-second year of existence, Webster still has the same hunger to tour, and though unable to do so while the COVID-19 crisis continues, the bassist hopes that not too much more time passes before they are able to get back on the road. Regardless, he is looking ahead and not to the band's past.

"We're very excited to continue this new chapter of the band with Erik on board," he says. "I think that a band should always be working to improve and trying to make whatever they're currently doing the best thing they've done, so that's what we'll do."

"Violence Unimagined" track listing

01. Murderous Rampage

02. Necrogenic Resurrection

03. Inhumane Harvest

04. Condemnation Contagion

05. Surround, Kill, Devour

06. Ritual Annihilation

07. Follow The Blood

08. Bound And Burned

09. Slowly Sawn

10. Overtorture

11. Cerements Of The Flayed

CANNIBAL CORPSE is:

Alex Webster – bass

Paul Mazurkiewicz – drums

George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher - vocals

Rob Barrett - guitar

Erik Rutan - guitar

Photo credit: Alex Morgan

Sonicbond Publishing will release "Uriah Heep In The 1970s" from Steve Pilkington on March 25.

Incredibly, URIAH HEEP has now been active for a full 50 years. However, few would argue that the period which has come to define them the most, and during which they were at their most influential, was from 1970 to 1980. During this decade, they released an incredible 13 studio albums and a legendary double live album, as well as having a regular turnaround of musicians in all but the guitar and keyboard roles. This remarkable decade began with the first three albums, as the band sought to find a stable lineup, followed by the classic run begun by the "Demons And Wizards" album featuring the definitive Box/Hensley/Byron/Kerslake/Thain lineup.

When charismatic frontman David Byron departed, there was a period of some uncertainty, but still some remarkable music was made. This book, which features a foreword from founding member Paul Newton, is a year‐by‐year journey through that decade, looking at the albums, the often‐gruelling touring schedules and the ups and downs of the relationships within the band. Never quite attaining the sales and success of some of their rivals at the time, URIAH HEEP nevertheless released some of the most extraordinary music of the 1970s — and this book takes you through it all.

Pilkington is a music journalist, editor and broadcaster. He was editor-in-chief for the classic rock society magazine Rock Society and is now co-administrator of the rock web site Velvet Thunder as well as presenting a weekly internet radio show called "A Saucerful Of Prog". Before taking on this work full‐time, he spent years writing for fanzines and an Internet music review site on a part‐time basis. He has recently published books on DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW, THE ROLLING STONES and IRON MAIDEN, all for Sonicbond, and has also written the official biography of legendary guitarist Gordon Giltrap. He lives in Wigan, Lancashire, U.K.

According to ABC Audio, METALLICA's Kirk Hammett will guest on an upcoming album from Carlos Santana.

Santana has used the downtime during the COVID-19 pandemic to work on three separate records, including one titled "Blessings And Miracles" which will feature Hammett.

"My brother Kirk Hammett from METALLICA is playing [on it]," Carlos said. "He's tearing it up."

Steve Winwood and LIVING COLOUR frontman Corey Glover may also make guest appearances on the LP, according to Carlos.

Hammett previously guested on Santana's 2005 album "All That I Am", where he could be heard on the song "Trinity".

In an early 1990s interview, Kirk said that playing with Carlos Santana at the Bammies (San Francisco Bay Area Music Awards) was one of the "proudest" moments of his life. "To be trading off with him onstage was musically spiritual," he said. "We've travelled along similar lines; we're both from the Mission District, [and] we both play guit

LAMB OF GOD has debuted a new live quarantine session video for the track "Routes", featuring a guest appearance by TESTAMENT vocalist Chuck Billy. "Routes" is taken from last year's self-titled release, which will see the deluxe version reissue this Friday, March 26 via Epic Records.

"It's always an honor to be asked to perform with LAMB OF GOD, especially on this song," says Billy, who also lent his voice to the album version of the song. "It has such a deep meaning for me personally with my native American heritage. I'm happy Randy included me to get the message out about what is going on with Native Americans in the USA."

The three-disc deluxe edition of "Lamb Of God" featuries the full record with two bonus tracks and a live version of the album, along with a DVD performance of "Lamb Of God".

"This album, and in particular this deluxe edition, is something I'm incredibly proud of," says guitarist Willie Adler. "Throughout the process of writing, recording and the subsequent filming of the live stream, I knew we were creating much more than a collection of songs. Much more than a simple streamed performance. This was focused energy. Energy that, to me, is very tangible. And now, more than ever, in an era where human interaction is so limited, art.... be it music, visual or otherwise, is a human connection point. And we need as much of that as possible! I hope everyone enjoys this deluxe edition as much as we enjoyed creating it. Thank you."

Pre-orders for the set are available now, along with "Ghost Shaped People". The live CD and DVD portion of the deluxe edition features the first of LAMB OF GOD's two ultra-successful live stream events from September 2020, in which the band performed their critically acclaimed, self-titled album "Lamb Of God" in full, plus an encore of four songs, including "Ruin", "Contractor", "512" and the debut live performance of "The Death Of Us", a new song the band wrote and recorded in quarantine for the "Bill & Ted Face The Music" movie and soundtrack. The DVD includes a new director's cut with bonus material.

Originally, released June 19 of last year, LAMB OF GOD's first new album in five years was met with universal acclaim — not only among major rock journalists, but with all strata of metal fans around the world.

But critics, media and the industry aside, perhaps the most telling statistic is the year-end U.S. metal radio chart, where the new album dominated at No. 1 by a massive margin (over 2,000 more spins than the album at No. 2). "Lamb Of God" spent nine weeks in the #1 spot and never left the top 10 since debuting on the chart in February. Metal radio is the lifeblood of the U.S. metal world, largely staffed by college students and regional tastemakers, playing the music that they know their local metal fans want to hear. At iTunes, "Lamb Of God" landed at No. 1 on the overall Rock and Metal album chart upon release.

"Lamb Of God" deluxe edition track listing:

Disc 1: "Lamb Of God" Original Album + 2 Bonus Tracks

01. Memento Mori

02. Checkmate

03. Gears

04. Reality Bath

05. New Colossal Hate

06. Resurrection Man

07. Poison Dream (feat. Jamey Jasta)

08. Routes (feat. Chuck Billy)

09. Bloodshot Eyes

10. On The Hook

11. Ghost Shaped People

12. Hyperthermic/Accelerate

Disc 2: "Lamb Of God - Live From Richmond, VA"

01. Memento Mori (Live)

02. Checkmate (Live)

03. Gears (Live)

04. Reality Bath (Live)

05. New Colossal Hate (Live)

06. Resurrection Man (Live)

07. Poison Dream (Live)

08. Routes (Live)

09. Bloodshot Eyes (Live)

10. On The Hook (Live)

11. Contractor (Live)

12. Ruin (Live)

13. The Death Of Us (Live)

14. 512

Disc 3: "Lamb Of God - Live From Richmond, VA" DVD

01. Memento Mori

02. Checkmate

03. Gears

04. Reality Bath

05. New Colossal Hate

06. Resurrection Man

07. Poison Dream

08. Routes

09. Bloodshot Eyes

10. On The Hook

11. Contractor

12. Ruin

13. The Death of Us

14. 512

Digital copies will contain only Disc 1 and Disc 2. A separate vinyl edition of "Lamb Of God - Live From Richmond, VA" will also be available.

"Lamb Of God - Live From Richmond, VA" vinyl track listing:

Side 1

01. Memento Mori

02. Checkmate

03. Gears

04. Reality Bath

05. New Colossal Hate

Side 2

01. Resurrection Man

02. Poison Dream

03. Routes

04. Bloodshot Eyes

05. On The Hook

LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT, the instrumental progressive rock/metal project featuring DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess and guitarist John Petrucci, alongside ex-DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy and progressive rock icon Tony Levin (bass) of KING CRIMSON and PETER GABRIEL fame, will release its third album, "LTE3", on March 26 via InsideOut Music. The effort will arrive 22 years after the release of 1999's "Liquid Tension Experiment 2". The official Christian Rios-created music video for the album's third single, "Hypersonic", can be seen below.

Portnoy said: "'Hypersonic' was the last song we composed of the four new compositions. We knew we needed an opener that was just going to take people's heads off from the minute you hit play. 'Paradigm Shift' opens with this five-second run that just punches you in the face. This time around, we open with a 30-second run before we even settle into the main riff and groove. It was absolutely designed that way and to me it's kind of a cross between 'Acid Rain' and 'Paradigm Shift' mixed with a lot of 'The Dance Of Eternity' kind of insanity. We purposely threw everything including the kitchen sink into that one."

Added Petrucci: "As we were putting the album together, we all felt that there needed to be a track that had some chops and speed and that frantic nervous energy that a song like 'Paradigm Shift' from the first LTE album or 'Acid Rain' from LTE2 had — something heavy and full of energy. This song definitely checks off that box. There are a lot of intricate, full-band unison moments where the challenge is to be as locked as possible and I think those types of passages on this song are a testament of how well we work together. This song really reflects the personalities of all four of us and has a lot of very musical, as well as quirky moments, that just make it a very fun ride."

"LTE3" track listing:

01. Hypersonic (8:22)

02. Beating The Odds (6:09)

03. Liquid Evolution (3:23)

04. The Passage Of Time (7:32)

05. Chris & Kevin's Amazing Odyssey (5:04)

06. Rhapsody In Blue (13:16)

07. Shades Of Hope (4:42)

08. Key To The Imagination (13:14)

The bonus disc includes almost an hour of improvised jams.

The album will be available as:

* Limited deluxe hot pink 3LP+2CD+Blu-ray Box Set (including a poster and 4 artcards, Blu-ray includes a 5.1 surround mix with visuals, and full band interview from the studio)

* Limited 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook

* Limited 2CD Digipak

* Gatefold black 2LP+CD

*Digital album (2CD)

Speaking about why now was the right time to resurrect LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT, Portnoy told Revolver: "The main reason is the insanity of 2020. The pandemic and the lockdown is pretty much what allowed it. But we've been talking about it for many, many years. It's been 10 years since I left DREAM THEATER, and it didn't make sense to do LTE while I was still in DREAM THEATER. Because it was three members of the same band. Then after I left, it took many years of healing and all the drama to pass and the dust to settle before the relationships with John and Jordan got real good again. And musically, Jordan and I played together a few years ago on the Cruise To The Edge, and then obviously John Petrucci and I played together last year for his solo album ['Terminal Velocity']. So it seemed like the time was right to finally do it. And the pandemic, for better or worse, gave us a window of opportunity where none of us were on tour and we could actually align the schedules and do it."

On the topic of his musical chemistry with Petrucci, Portnoy said: "Well, John and I were writing partners and producing partners for 25 years. And when we reconvened last year for his solo album, I guess I will say the difference was that the roles were redefined, because it was his album. It wasn't like DREAM THEATER where we wrote together and produced together. When I got together with him for 'Terminal Velocity', I was coming in and playing a much different role, as was he. John had written it all and I was there to do a service for him. And I'm very comfortable playing that role, being a session guy or a hired gun. But then when we got together to do LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT a few months later, that was more of the natural chemistry of us writing together, working together, making decisions together. Once we got to that relationship, it was exactly as it had been when I left DREAM THEATER. It was just so immediately comfortable."

In November 2017, Mike told Loud that he left DREAM THEATER because he wanted to expand his musical horizons. "[I didn't] want to go to my grave and just be the drummer from DREAM THEATER," he said. "I knew there was way more to what I had to offer."

Photo credit: Tony Levin

METALLICA's "performance coach" Phil Towle, a former psychotherapist who was brought into the picture in January 2001 to help James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and Lars Ulrich repair their relationship with Jason Newsted, spoke to the METALLICA-centric podcast "...And Podcast For All!" about the bassist's decision to leave the band 20 years ago. Asked if he thinks Jason "really legitimately wanted to quit" METALLICA or he "just wanted to shock" the other members "enough to where they would either change their ways or beg him to stay," Towle said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Have you ever had a fight with your wife? When we're fightning with our spouses or significant others or good friends or whatever, it's hard. It's easy to build up the animosity and the resentment when you're feeling uncomfortable. And I think that Jason — this is my second-hand knowledge — but I think that Jason, coming off of [late METALLICA bassist] Cliff's [Burton] reputation and the way that Cliff died so tragically, and that he was so instantly a replacement for Cliff, that he became what the guys would say a 'whipping boy.' He was the way that they grieved unhealthily. And Jason, because he was so — like anybody else — so grateful to be a part of the band, never felt like he could quite make it. He was hazed to the point where I think it blew because he'd had enough of something. And when we've had enough of something, then it's hard to go to somebody and say, 'Can we sit down and talk about this?' No. It's, 'Fuck you.' It's a straight head-on… It's, 'This is what I'm pissed off about.' So you have to ride that wave out. And because it was stunning, and because the band had certain resentments — the rest of the band had resentments — these are cumulative effects. And the fact that they never talked out — this is what Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] would say — the whole never really took the time to talk out the issues they were involved in, then this becomes an explosion. Then you have to pick up the pieces of it."

Towle continued: "I don't think [Jason] wanted to leave the band. I think he wanted to leave the reality of what existed. And this was the only way he could start to do something with it. And that triggered a whole bunch of things. That contributed to ultimately James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman], months later, going into rehab. It wasn't the exact fact, but if you look at the overarching life of METALLICA and you see that they were trashing each other in Playboy magazine, in that interview, and you see then a month later they come in, or maybe two months later they come in — January of 2001, I think — and there's this kind of animosity, that Jason is acting out. He's the identified patient of the therapy, so he's acting this act. And then the fight ensued."

Newsted's exit from METALLICA was documented in the band's 2004 documentary, "Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster", which followed the members of the group through the three most turbulent years of their long career, during which they battled through addiction, lineup changes, fan backlash, personal turmoil and the near-disintegration of the group while making their "St. Anger" album.

While initially helping METALLICA towards restoring band harmony, the film shows Towle attempting to increasingly insert himself into the band's creative process, submitting lyrics for the album and even attempting to join them on the road.

"Some Kind Of Monster" also documented Hetfield's spiral into alcoholism and decision to check himself into a rehab facility. Hetfield's re-emergence from rehab is when the film really gets into gear, with the chief worry in his mind whether or not he could do METALLICA sober.

In a 2004 interview with The Kansas City Star, Towle spoke about being present when Newsted told the band he was leaving, though that scene isn't in "Some Kind of Monster". Asked how that went down, Towle said: "We'd been sitting around talking for about a half-hour when Jason says to me, 'I want to talk to the guys. Will you excuse me?' So I went into the other room in the suite. I could hear all this pain resonating from the room they were in, and after about 10 minutes, I went back in. Jason says, 'I don't want you in here.' I said, 'I was hired to be here, to work with you guys and your issues, and I can't in good faith stay in the other room.' There was silence. Then Lars says, 'Let him stay.'

"They were all jarred so much that a family member for 14 years was leaving for various reasons. They said, 'We gotta do something about this.' Here's what I offered: Rather than invest energy in being pissed at Jason, use this thing to explore the underlying issues of discomfort and conflict that led to his leaving.

"In a very dysfunctional family, Jason had the courage to stand up. He was the one who set in motion this process of calling everyone out. I'd read an old interview with METALLICA in Playboy in which the band members separately trashed each other. So now the conflict had come to a head."

Towle also spoke about the scene toward the end of "Some Kind Of Monster" documentary where he and James and Lars get into it over Phil's continued role with the band. Asked what happened there, Towle said: "The band was going through a moment of indecision about whether to continue with me and on what terms. I needed an answer. I said I gotta know because I'm thinking about moving out here. Off camera we had talks about continuing. So I really felt a little ambushed. I felt I'd had one understanding where I'd do it part time to resolve some issues.

"But it was also difficult for me to think about leaving. … I was with this one client every day for almost two and a half years. We started with two- and three-hour sessions, and then when things heated up as they made the album, I was in the studio every day. I just didn't want to leave the process, the intimacy. And I thought we had a deal in place. But, you know, the thing to come out of that was Lars coming to James's support. That really cemented things between them."

Newsted was METALLICA's third bassist, following Ron McGovney and the late Cliff Burton. Robert Trujillo took over in 2003 after Newsted's exit.

Jason spoke in detail about the reason he left METALLICA in a 2013 interview with Scuzz TV. Newsted said that his eventual split with the group was over the way his then-side band, ECHOBRAIN, was handled. Newsted explained: "The management of METALLICA was very, very excited about ECHOBRAIN, wanted to take it out for me, wanted me to do ECHOBRAIN also, with METALLICA. They felt ECHOBRAIN was that good, the singer was that good, and it didn't affect METALLICA because it was a totally different kind of thing, and I was in METALLICA; that would give it its pedigree already."

Newsted continued: "They had told me, pretty convincingly, 'This is a great record, we've been playing it around the office, that's all I’ve been hearing, it's fantastic, this kid has a great voice. Let's do something with this.' That's what they told me, and then James heard about it and was not happy. He was, I think, pretty much out to put the kibosh on the whole thing because it would somehow affect METALLICA in his eyes, because now the managers were interested in something I was doing that had nothing to do with him."

Newsted told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that he never saw how ECHOBRAIN could have interfered with METALLICA. "I never felt that it was going to affect METALLICA in any way," he said. "There was no way that it could. The monster and the integrity and the legend that METALLICA's built, it would take a lot more than that to ever affect it."

Newsted added, "The people that I had counted on for 15 years to help me with my career, help METALLICA, take care of my money, do all of those things, told me, 'Your new project is fantastic, we'd like to help you with it.' James heard about it, the manager calls me back a couple of days later — 'Sorry we're not going to be able to help you with that ECHOBRAIN thing.'"

SKID ROW guitarist Dave "Snake" Sabo spoke to Andertons Music Co about how he has been using the coronavirus downtime to stay creative. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Rachel [Bolan, SKID ROW bassist] and I work best when we're in a room together. It's all we've ever done; we've always done it in a room together. So we've done a couple of things over Zoom, and a couple of good things have come out of it. But it's just so foreign — it's foreign to everybody. You just make the most with what you have. And so we'll continue to do more, just to be creative and productive.

"I've gotta tell you, man — we played our last show last March, and it's heartbreaking; it's really, really heartbreaking. Not just from the musician side of me, but from the fan side of me. I miss going down the street to see a show. I miss the communal aspect of it. I miss seeing other people thrive in their environment.

"This is a terrible thing that's going," he continued. "And I know that we're getting to a place where we're getting safer and safer. But it's gonna be a while — it's gonna be a while before people have the trust. Not in all areas, because there's people out there now that are just going buck wild. And I don't know how much that is helping things. I wish people would just wear a mask and let's get done with this thing already. I'm not a political person; I don't understand the politics of that whatsoever. For me, I wear a mask wherever I go. The last thing I want is to spread anything or infect my children or my family in any way.

"The one interesting thing is, the challenge of all this, for me, has been maintaining motivation on a daily basis. And some days, you're just shredding for hours and hours and hours and hours. Other days, you're, like, whatever I do sucks. That's the mental thing that goes on.

"But the good thing, for me, is that, at least from my viewpoint, I do see light at the end of the tunnel," Sabo added. "I think people realize, maybe more so now than ever, how much of a role music plays in our everyday lives. It was becoming background noise for a little while, it felt like. And I don't think that's the case anymore. I think music's being consumed on such a larger level now."

This past weekend, SKID ROW regrouped in Nashville, Tennessee to begin pre-production on some of its new material. The band is working with Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES, MASTODON, RUSH) after previously collaborating several times with Michael Wagener, who also helmed the group's 1989 self-titled debut and 1991's "Slave To The Grind".

SKID ROW's new LP will mark its first release with South African-born, British-based vocalist ZP Theart (DRAGONFORCE, TANK, I AM I), who joined the band in 2016 following the departure of Tony Harnell (TNT, STARBREAKER).

Unlike 2014's "Rise Of The Damnation Army - United World Rebellion: Chapter Two" and 2013's "United World Rebellion: Chapter One", SKID ROW's forthcoming release will be a full-length record.

SKID ROW previously collaborated with several outside songwriters on its new material, including Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR) and Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger of HALESTORM, a group that covered the title track of "Slave To The Grind" on its "ReAniMate: The CoVeRs eP" in 2011. SKID ROW also worked with songwriter-for-hire Marti Frederiksen, who has previously collaborated with AEROSMITH, DEF LEPPARD, Jonny Lang and Sheryl Crow.

SKID ROW's 2020 "The Big Rock Summer Tour", also featuring RATT, CINDERELLA's Tom Keifer and SLAUGHTER, was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the globe.

Brant Bjork has revealed that he tried to reach out to Josh Homme about a possible reunion of KYUSS's classic lineup.

The former KYUSS drummer said that he attempted to repair his relationship with the group's leader after Homme said in an interview last summer that he would be open to playing with his former bandmates again in order to rewrite KYUSS's final chapter. At the time, it had been eight years since a nasty legal dispute ensued when Bjork, singer John Garcia and bassist Nick Oliveri reunited in 2011 as KYUSS LIVES! While Homme initially supported his ex-bandmates' decision to tour under that moniker, he and bassist Scott Reeder sued Garcia and Bjork in early 2012 for "trademark infringement and consumer fraud" when Garcia and Bjork allegedly attempted to trademark the KYUSS name. A judge ruled later that year that Garcia and Bjork were not permitted to release any recordings under the name KYUSS LIVES! and warned them that future concerts under the KYUSS LIVES! mark "might continue to subject them to liability for trademark infringement."

Speaking to TotalRock's "Hobo On The Radio" podcast, Bjork addressed Homme's remark that he would like to see KYUSS end on a high note. "It's an interesting comment, and I can totally relate to his feeling, because I was really bummed the way that KYUSS broke up in '95; I didn't want it to end that way," Brant said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "So what we should have done is never broke up. Had we known as young dudes — which, let's face it, we were young, and it's hard to do — had we known how to keep a band together, we could have just had that band moving all along and taking breaks from time to time to pursue other things. But, yeah, it has this kind of stop and rebirth and reinvention, and, yeah, I share his frustration. But there's always a way to do it, and it just takes communication. I've always said if you communicate, you can relate, and if you can relate, you can create. That's how it works. And if you're not communicating, then there's gonna be absolutely no creating. And that's where the problem is — is that we're unable to communicate. And over the years, I think Josh and I kind of being the ones who, in a lot of ways, oversaw this band existing, in certain terms, we just have a hard time communicating. Which is interesting, because when we were kids, we were great at communicating. We were great at communicating and relating and creating, and that was what made us have the partnership that we had within the band. And then the communication broke down and we were never able to put it back together."

He continued: "I heard his comment. And interestingly, I thought it was really fitting that it was Nick who actually called me and said, 'Hey, you should check this out.' I was, like, 'Oh, yeah. For sure, man. That's pretty trippy.' And so I listened to it. And to be honest, it was really kind of relieving to hear him speak the way he was. I don't talk to him, I don't have a relationship with him anymore, so I don't know who he is and where he is and what he does anymore. But in terms of what we have and did with KYUSS, I thought it was some healthy words and a healthy perspective on things. And it even went to the extent that a friend of mine was, like, 'Hey, you know what? Maybe it's a good time to reach out to him.' And I thought, 'Yeah, it's not a bad idea, man.' I think we're at an age, and after all that we've done and experienced individually, and even collectively when we were younger, I think, there's no reason for us to just kind of say, 'Hey, man…' Not unlike what I'm doing right now with Nick in STONER — a kind of way to say, 'Hey, why don't we just go back and kind of try and plug into that time before we were accomplished professional musicians.' 'Cause there's a starting point to everything. Maybe there's the ability where we can go back before all this stuff happened and try and communicate from that place. I don't know. Maybe that's a fantasy. I don't know. But it was an idea. And I reached out to him. And he actually was, like, 'Yeah, let's talk. And I'll get back to you.' And I was, like, 'All right. Cool, man.' And then it never happened. So I don't know what to say about that.

"As far as a KYUSS reunion happening, that was my attempt at not necessarily getting the band back together but at the very least developing some communication with Josh," Brant added. "And it seemed at first that it might be time and [we] actually [might] be able to connect. But it didn't happen. That was months and months and months ago, so it's clear that it's not gonna move forward. And who knows? Maybe he puts KYUSS together and puts his own version together or whatever. I don't know what he's gonna do. We'll have to just see."

Josh discussed a possible KYUSS reunion while being interviewed by Kyuss World Radio about the 25th anniversary of the band's final album, "…And The Circus Leaves Town". The Californian four-piece split three months following the LP's release, resulting in it being less critically and commercially successful when compared to the two KYUSS albums which helped birth the stoner rock movement — 1992's "Blues For The Red Sun" and 1994's "Welcome To Sky Valley".

"My philosophy has always been, never do a reunion, never do a sequel. It's not what it was; it's what it is. And that's kind of how I've felt," Homme said.

He added that he's generally not in favor of reunions.

"A legacy that involves having been at the epicenter of a scene that got created, it's so fragile," he said. "It's like an ice sculpture. And I don't wanna be a blow dryer on that thing."

But he didn't completely rule out the possibility. "That being said, I was in full support of KYUSS LIVES! and I would go to the shows and I told them as much, until what Brant and, unfortunately, what John tried to do. And that was terrible.

"There have been times I thought it cannot end that way, and the only real way to end it correctly now would be to play," Homme continued. "And because they sort of perverted the punctuation and they knocked the wing off this beautiful dragon that's an ice sculpture, and the only way to put the motherfucking wing back on would be to [play again]."

"I have thought about this, especially in the last few years, to do something special, and even to make up for that mistake of Brant and, unfortunately, John, to make up for it. [I thought we should] play and give all the money away. Like, play for the fans — cover your costs and make it five bucks. Figure out a way to be, like, this is how the punctuation will end the sentence of this band. Because it was never about money — it never was about money. It never was about fame, and when it felt like that was the move they were making, I was so sad."

After KYUSS split in 1995, Homme went on to form QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE.

In a May 2012 interview with RolllingStone.com, Bjork stated about Homme and Reeder's lawsuit, "They don't want to mention that they trademarked the name KYUSS after I left the band, assuring that I had no rights in KYUSS's future. They're both accusing John and I of doing something that they actually did themselves. Their inner conflict is this: both Josh and Scott want control and money from KYUSS LIVES!, but they don't want to participate and they ultimately don't want us to exist. The double standard is unbelievable."

He added, "Josh and I were the creative force within the band and after the completion of our second record, 'Blues For The Red Sun', we developed an opposing view on how the band should exist and operate. In 1992, Josh discovered publishing, which is the financial revenue stream for songwriting. After that, he wanted to write all the songs. As a drummer, I couldn't make him play my songs. I wasn't going to compromise my heart and soul and play drums for Josh to make money in a band I started. So I left the band. I was a confused, angry and sad 19-year-old idealist who sacrificed my love of my band for what I believed in. Two and a half years later, Josh would break up the band after John confronted him about the same thing; his need to control the band for personal gain."

Bjork and Oliveri recently formed a new band called STONER. They are joined in the trio by Ryan Güt.

Dee Snider and Sebastian Bach have called on politicians to address gun violence in America after a string of mass shootings in the past week, including one that killed 10 people in Colorado.

On Monday evening, a gunman opened fire at a grocery store in Boulder, killing 10 people, including one police officer. Less than a week earlier, a gunman opened fire on local businesses in the Atlanta area, killing eight people, six of whom were women of Asian descent.

On Tuesday (March 23), Snider took to his Twitter to respond to a four-week-old tweet from staunch Second Amendment supporter Lauren Boebert, who represents Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, in which she wrote: "The people who think we need more gun control are the same people who think the 'AR' in 'AR-15' stands for assault rifle." The TWISTED SISTER singer fired back: "I thought it stood for 'You AR a fucking idiot!' - sincerely, Dee Snider. Proud gun owner, 2nd amendment advocate AND BELIEVER IN INTELLIGENT GUN CONTROL!!! If you need an AR-15 for self defense...you are a terrible shot."

Bach apparently agreed with Snider, sharing Dee's tweet and writing: "The people that believe that it's the year 1776 & the 2nd Amendment applies literally in 2021 do not understand the difference between a Musket and an AR-15." The ex-SKID ROW frontman also replied to a 2019 tweet from former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in which she wrote: "Democrats say we have guns in America because of 'corruption'. No, we have guns because it's our God-given right enshrined in the Constitution." Sebastian tweeted: "God does not give a shit about guns and he does not give a shit about what you say. Stop using God to justify murder and your ignorance".

Bach had previously voiced his views on guns several times, including in August 2019 after back-to-back mass shootings in the United States left at least 29 dead and 53 injured in Texas and Ohio. At the time, Bach repeatedly lambasted then-President Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Vice President Mike Pence and other Republican leaders for their inaction on gun regulation. "You and your useless Republican party don't give a fuck about the safety of the citizens of the USA," the former SKID ROW singer wrote in response to a tweet of consolation from Ohio senator Rob Portman. "Your 'prayers' are a slap in the face to the 30 people who were mowed down yesterday because of your uselessness."

Several other high-profile musicians have called on lawmakers to take action when it comes to gun laws in the United States, including Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT), Paul Stanley (KISS), Nikki Sixx (MÖTLEY CRÜE) and Alex Skolnick (TESTAMENT).




I thought it stood for "You AR a fucking idiot!" - sincerely, Dee Snider. Proud gun owner, 2nd amendment advocate AND BELIEVER IN INTELLIGENT GUN CONTROL!!! If you need an AR-15 for self defense...you are a terrible shot. https://t.co/ZWhlJ5SQbr

— Dee Snider?? (@deesnider) March 23, 2021








The people that believe that it's the year 1776 & the 2nd Amendment applies literally in 2021 do not understand the difference between a Musket and an AR-15. https://t.co/qaJ5batObw

— Sebastian Bach (@sebastianbach) March 23, 2021








God does not give a shit about guns and he does not give a shit about what you say. Stop using God to justify murder and your ignorance https://t.co/YHiNxmhVCf

— Sebastian Bach (@sebastianbach) March 24, 2021








Why are we the only country on the planet that allows this to happen https://t.co/01AIxP5SG2

— Sebastian Bach (@sebastianbach) March 23, 2021

TWISTED SISTER guitarist Jay Jay French has slammed the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, calling it an "elitist" institution which has failed to recognize some of the biggest and most influential artists of the 1980s.

Even though artists are eligible for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame 25 years after the release of their first album or single, iconic hard rock and metal bands like JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD have yet to be recognized by the institution, which inducted GUNS N' ROSES in that group's first year of eligibility.

The Rock Hall didn't induct BLACK SABBATH until 2006, and METALLICA followed three years later.

Asked by Cassius Morris of "The Cassius Morris Show" for his opinion of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Jay Jay said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm not happy with it. I went to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame years ago and thought it was the worst-curated piece of shit I'd ever seen. I didn't understand it. I said to myself… Here's what I said to myself… I'm a New Yorker, so I should understand the super-hip new York downtown, why Patti Smith… Look, screw that. The fact of the matter is that the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is in Cleveland. Cleveland's in the Midwest. How do you not have KANSAS, how do you not have REO SPEEDWAGON, how do you not have Bob Seger — how do you not have bands that kept fucking rock and roll alive in the '80s? How do you not have [JUDAS] PRIEST, how do you not have [IRON] MAIDEN, how do you not have the artists that kept this whole fucking business alive because it was so hip for you to say we suck, it was so hip to go, 'The '80s sucked.'"

He continued: "I've got news for you all: the '80s not only didn't suck, but the '80s, in terms of the kids around the world — South America, Europe, Japan, the Far East, India — they fill stadiums today because of the music that we created back then. And if that music is that damn important, then why the hell do we not have the respect of being acknowledged by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame? That's what annoys me. It's not that THE BEATLES shouldn't be [there]; of course they should be there, of course a lot of these acts should be there, but so should about 30 or 40 other acts that are actually responsible for the propagation and the continuation of the kind of music that we grew up [on], that I played and that inspired you. And until that's recognized, I don't respect that. I just think it's completely misguided and totally elitist and really fucked up."

Last month, Jay Jay's TWISTED SISTER bandmate Dee Snider also criticized the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, calling the Rock Hall committee members "arrogant elitist assholes who look down on metal and other bands that sell millions because we're not their definition of cool." When one fan suggested that the Rock Hall "caters to the masses," Snider responded: "If they were catering to the masses they would have the biggest selling bands. Corporate rock bands that sell tens of millions are ignored because they aren't 'cool'. The fact is the RnR Hall of Fame is struggling. Was it crowded when you were there? It wasn't when I went."

Dee also repeated the long-running complaint that the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame subscribes to Rolling Stone magazine's canon of rock history, seeing as Jann Wenner is a co-founder of both. "Jan Werner (founder is Rolling Stone) has been the puppet master since day one," he wrote. "If it ain't in Rolling Stone it is hard pressed to get into the Hall of Fame!"

Rock Hall rules state that artists become eligible a quarter century after their first records were released, but the Hall also claims that other "criteria include the influence and significance of the artists' contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock 'n' roll," which is, of course, open to interpretation.

Eligible for induction since 1999, KISS didn't get its first nomination until 2009, and was finally inducted in 2014.

DEEP PURPLE was eligible for the Rock Hall since 1993 but didn't get inducted until 2016.

JUDAS PRIEST was on the ballot for Rock Hall induction last year, but failed to receive enough votes to make the class of 2020.

Having been eligible for induction since 1999, PRIEST was previously on the ballot for the 2018 class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but was ultimately left out of the inductee list.

Geoff Tate was asked in a new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio how crucial QUEENSRŸCHE was in pioneering the progressive metal genre. He responded: "Well, I'll put it this way: there wasn't a progressive metal genre before us. How about that? [Laughs] Actually, I'm kind of against genres. I've never been a fan of genrefication or putting artists' music into little boxes. It really has only one purpose, and that's to sell it, you know? The danger of putting a band or an artist in a box like that is that fans get expectations based upon that little box. And oftentimes, if you step outside that box or put your toe outside that box, you get massively criticized, and it's not accepted, because 'that's not progressive metal' or 'that's not metal' or 'that's not hip-hop.' Everybody puts their limitations on what the art can be, and that's a dangerous precedent that gets set. It's a dangerous attitude when you start limiting the thinking, or trying to limit the thinking, of people, and that's where you get into fascism and, ultimately, monarchies and that kind of thing."

Asked what his favorite albums with QUEENSRŸCHE were, Tate said: "Well, I'm very proud of all the music that QUEENSRŸCHE made in my time with the band. That's how we really pushed a lot of boundaries with our music and were very progressive in our presentations. I have very special moments, that I feel are special moments, from my point of view of actually making the records. The 'Promised Land' album that we made in '94 — in '93; it came out in '94 — was very special to me, 'cause of the way we did it, living on a remote island and building our own studio. That was an incredible experience, I thought. Working on the 'Warning' album in London and living there for a year, making the record and working all the high-end studios in the city and being involved with the music scene at that time was incredibly exciting. And the last album I made with QUEENSRŸCHE, 'Dedicated To Chaos', was one of my favorite-sounding records and a record I feel really proud of, 'cause everybody in the band was contributing to that record. It was really a band effort — one of the first band efforts; well, first and only band effort we ever had. So, I felt really great about that, too. But, yeah, there's high moments, I feel, special moments, I feel, for almost all the records, really. 'Cause, I think as a writer, as a musician, each record is a success, because you started with nothing and you made something at the end of the day, and that's a wonderful feeling."

In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012. Original QUEENSRŸCHE members Michael Wilton (guitar), Scott Rockenfield (drums) and Eddie Jackson (bass) responded with a countersuit. The settlement included an agreement that Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson would continue as QUEENSRŸCHE, while Tate would have the sole right to perform the albums "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

QUEENSRŸCHE has released three albums thus far with Tate's replacement, ex-CRIMSON GLORY frontman Todd La Torre — 2013's "Queensrÿche", 2015's "Condition Hüman" and 2019's "The Verdict".

In a new interview with Puraphy, SYSTEM OF A DOWN bassist Shavo Odadjian was asked if he has ever had any personal encounters with reality stars Kourtney, Kim, Khloé and Rob Kardashian, who are all also of Armenian descent. He responded: "Oh, I know the Kardashians quite well. I used to be very good friends with Kanye [West, Kim Kardashian's ex]. Though this was a few years ago now, I've been to their house a lot. They're just like you'd imagine they'd be: very cool, personable people. In fact, when SYSTEM OF A DOWN was asked to play in Armenia in 2015, come to find out that Kanye had just played the same venue a week before we did. Yeah, I like the Kardashians a lot."

Odadjian is not the only member of SYSTEM OF A DOWN to publicly praise the Kardashians. While speaking to Consequence Of Sound last October, SYSTEM OF A DOWN singer Serj Tankian said that he has a lot of respect and love for Kim Kardashian for using her platform to shed light on the 1915 Armenian genocide.

"I'll tell you something about Kim — I have a lot of respect for her," he said. "When it comes to issues of justice, she's been really great. When it comes to spreading awareness about the need for recognition of the Armenian genocide, about what's going on in Artsakh right now, the revolution that happened in Armenia that no one in the U.S. knew about, she's been really amazing. I've met her a few times."

Asked whether Kardashian is a fan of SYSTEM OF A DOWN, Tankian responded: "I haven't asked. [Laughs] Honestly, the only time that we spoke was about Armenia, and it was great."

Last November, Kim Kardashian shared a message from SYSTEM OF A DOWN about "Protect The Land" and "Genocidal Humanoidz", the band's first new songs in 15 years. The tracks were motivated by the recently erupted conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan, the latter aided by Turkey and accountable for the greatest violence the region has endured in 26 years. Produced by guitarist/vocalist Daron Malakian, who also wrote the music and lyrics, both songs are streaming now on all DSPs and are available for purchase on Bandcamp with band royalties earmarked for the Armenia Fund.




❤️?? https://t.co/vrjH57VkH9

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) November 12, 2020








Thank you @KimKardashian In solidarity. https://t.co/rK1Yf3LiTn

— Serj Tankian (@serjtankian) November 12, 2020

EVANESCENCE's Amy Lee told Consequence Of Sound that teenage superstar Billie Eilish inspired her during the writing process for the band's upcoming album, "The Bitter Truth". She said: "I listen to all kinds of music. If I'm being completely honest, I don't listen to rock, mostly. It's not that I don't like it. Of course I do. I really love the new BRING ME THE HORIZON album a lot. That's my favorite new rock album in a good while. But my tastes are all over the place. I really do love good pop — like good, dark pop. So, with Billie Eilish, even more than her style, which is very dark, what I really love about her is just her authenticity. She's just being completely herself. I see a lot of things in her that remind me of myself, especially when I was younger. I get inspired by all kinds of things, even if it's just in the way that somebody arranged the songs. Like, 'Oh, they didn't end on the chorus. Why don't we do something like that?'"

"The Bitter Truth" will arrive on March 26 via BMG. EVANESCENCE's first collection of original music in ten years can be pre-ordered as a digital version, CD, vinyl and a limited-edition deluxe fan box set featuring a bonus CD, journal, poster and special cassette of exclusive audio from the making of "The Bitter Truth". Every pre-order will automatically come with downloads of already-released songs "Wasted On You", "The Game Is Over", "Use My Voice" and "Yeah Right".

"The Bitter Truth" is an epic, guitar-driven collection inspired by the (often-bitter) realities of the 21st Century and our world. The already-released songs have received early accolades from Elle, Billboard, SPIN, American Songwriter, and more, and showcase the "ferocious and hymnal" (The New York Times) sound that made EVANESCENCE a household name, as well as the drama and powerhouse vocals that made Lee "one of rock's definitive voices" (Rolling Stone).

EVANESCENCE's new music was produced by Nick Raskulinecz, who also worked on 2011's self-titled LP.

Photo credit: Nick Fancher

In a recent interview with Australia's The Project, KISS frontman Paul Stanley was asked how he came up with the band's name nearly five decades ago. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I thought that it was something that would sound familiar no matter where you were in the world. It was the kind of name where a word like that, you would go, 'Oh, I've heard of KISS.' And it also had so many different meanings — a passionate kiss, a kiss of death, whatever. So it was a word that I think was open to interpretation. And I guess it worked, right? We're here, what? 48 years later — something like that. But who's counting?"

It was previously reported that Stanley — born Stanley Harvey Eisen — came up with the name KISS after drummer Peter Criss mentioned he was in a band called LIPS. Stanley and co-founder Gene Simmons started a band called WICKED LESTER in 1972, which later became KISS.

KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but is now expected to last well into 2022.

KISS last performed this past New Year's Eve in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The concert broke Guinness world records for highest flame projection in a music concert and for most flame projections launched simultaneously in a music concert.

KISS's current lineup consists of original members Stanley and Simmons, alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

KISS hasn't released a full-length disc of new music since 2012's "Monster", which sold 56,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous LP, "Sonic Boom", opened with 108,000 units back in October 2009 to enter the chart at No. 2. It was KISS's highest-charting LP ever.


Paul Stanley – Kiss | The Project

Ahead of their upcoming Aussie tour, KISS frontman Paul Stanley Zoomed in to reveal how the band chose their name, and what came a close second.

Head to https://bit.ly/38cv2Pc for all the details.

#TheProjectTV

Posted by The Project on Friday, March 5, 2021

CHEVELLE vocalist/guitarist Pete Loeffler spoke to the KFMA 102.1 radio station about what it will take for him and his bandmates to feel comfortable about returning to the road during the pandemic. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We're all kind of waiting and watching — waiting for them to open up the vaccines to younger people. If somebody called me and said, 'Come out and get it,' I would get in my car and go. Anything to start the process of getting back to normal, I'm up for. I'm a big believer in the progress we've made over the last hundred years — two hundred years, or whatever it is — of vaccines eradicating diseases. So I'm on board. I wanna get back to work, I wanna have fun, I wanna get back to what we do, and I want everyone else to as well.

"The music business has been decimated through this," he continued. "That's my world. But I know the world has — every industry has been affected in a bad way. We've gotta pull ourselves out of this in some way. I'm hopeful. We have shows booked for the second half of the year, starting as early as July. They're outdoor festivals. We'll see if they happen. I've been watching Europe, and, unfortunately, they're canceling some festivals. And I don't know what's gonna happen there; I don't know how many are gonna go off at all. It makes me a little worried, but I'm just waiting and watching.

"I'll keep working," Pete added. "We'll keep writing music and preparing for the next [album] if we don't go on the road. But I want full circle; I want us to get back to it, like everyone."

CHEVELLE's latest album, "Niratias" (Nothing Is Real And This Is A Simulation), was released on March 5. The follow-up to 2016's "The North Corridor" was recorded throughout 2019 and 2020 with longtime producer Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE), CHEVELLE.

"Niratias" bowed in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. It debuted at No. 9, and was the first new release to chart within the Top 10 in over three weeks. In addition, "Niratias" achieved several other accolades. This week, the LP impressively debuted at No. 1 on several Billboard charts, including Rock Album, Alternative Album, Hard Music, Overall Album, Digital Album and Internet Album. "Self Destructor", the album’s acclaimed lead single, also reached the summit of the Active Rock radio chart this week, marking CHEVELLE's 12th No. 1 single at the format.

"The North Corridor" debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 album chart and produced a No. 1 Mainstream Rock single, "Joyride (Omen)".

PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix spoke to Radio.com LIVE! Check In about the band's upcoming follow-up to 2019's "Who Do You Trust?" album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We've got about three-quarters of the record finished. We took some time and we rented a house all together, locked in this place for a month. Everybody got COVID tested. Nobody left the house for a month. There was no in-and-outs. We had food delivered, and we had a friend of ours cooking out for us. And it was music 24 hours a day for a month. Literally, there was something happening at all hours. And this creative process, we got lost in it.

"I find that it was time for us to kind of shake things up in that way, 'cause the last couple of records, we've just gone into the studio and just started writing," he explained. "Tobin [Esperance, bass], Jerry [Horton, guitar] and myself and Tony [Palermo, drums], we were just, like, 'Let's do something different.' And so this shut-in vibe really… It's like the farther you dig down creatively and you discover this piece, it's, like, 'Let's go farther down the rabbit hole. Let's go farther down the rabbit hole.' And that experience for us really uncovered some rad sounds, some great songs, and just overall a good bonding experience for us. Because we've been doing this thing for years, and we really started to miss each other, being home.

"It's a family — it really is. These are my brothers. I spend a large portion of my life with these guys on the road. And so after we are home with our families for a while, it's, like, 'All right, now [I've] gotta get with our other family. I miss my other family.'

"We wrote some ill music, and now we're just putting the finishing touches on a bunch of it," Jacoby added. "And I've gotta tell you, man, this next era, this next phase is… I am beyond excited. I think it's some of the best songwriting we've ever done. It's mature, but then there's this reckless idleness to it. It's just this duality of styles. We have our first acoustic ballad we've ever done. And it's not like a, 'Oh, honey, sweetie, sweetie, baby' kind of ballad. It's a song that just grabs you by the heartstrings and just toys with you. It's just a super-dynamic rock record that I think is gonna blow people's minds."

Last month, Shaddix told Germany's Rock Antenne that PAPA ROACH would not release a new album until the coronavirus pandemic has subsided.

"The touring is not coming back for the rest of this year," he said. "I mean, there'll be some pop-up shows here and there, but we're not gonna drop a new album and tour until 2022. We're just gonna wait it out."

In January, a snippet of a brand new PAPA ROACH song called "Stand Up" was included in commercial for Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) partnership with ESPN.

PAPA ROACH's second greatest-hits collection, "Greatest Hits Vol. 2: The Better Noise Years", is due on March 19 on Better Noise Music.

"Greatest Hits Vol. 2 - The Better Noise Years" includes 12 of the band's top 10 hits released between 2010 to 2019 as well as three previously unreleased remixes and two unreleased acoustic recordings recorded live at the YouTube Studios in New York City.

"Who Do You Trust?" was released in January 2019. The disc was produced by Nick "RAS" Furlong and Colin Cunningham except for the song "Top Of The World", which is helmed by Jason Evigan.

In December, PAPA ROACH released a five-song EP, "20/20", featuring "new takes on old jams," including "Last Resort" and "Scars".

Photo credit: Bryan Roatch

Ted Nugent has fired back at accusations of racism, saying that he is "the anti-racist" who has "paid homage and reverence to the black heroes of music" his entire life.

The outspoken conservative rocker made his comments just days after he revealed he recently lost a major sponsor of his award-winning "Spirit Of The Wild" television show over allegations of racism.

In a Facebook Live video on Saturday (March 20), Ted said: "Everybody who pays attention — not the ones who call me a racist, but the people who are actually honest and pay attention know that I have paid homage and reverence to the black heroes of music all my life, which means I'm the anti-racist. So if you find somebody who calls Ted Nugent a racist, you are looking at a subhuman piece of shit who lives a lie."

He added: "I'm a living, walking, breathing passionate music lover that was in the eye of the music storm at the most important time in the history of music, coming right out of the electrification of the guitar by Les Paul. And how Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and THE VENTURES and Duane Eddy and Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley took that black music, and we celebrated it in song."

A board member of the National Rifle Association, Nugent has been accused of using racist language for decades, including in a 1990 Detroit Free Press interview where he defended the institution of apartheid in South Africa by stating "apartheid isn't that cut-and-dry. All men are not created equal."

Back in 2014, Nugent called then-U.S. president Barack Obama a "subhuman mongrel" in an interview with Guns.com. He later apologized "for using the street fight terminology of subhuman mongrel." But he maintained that Obama was a "liar" violating the Constitution.

In his 2016 memoir, "18 And Life On Skid Row", former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach wrote about how Nugent, whom he considered to be one of his musical idols, allegedly went on a racist tirade on the set of the VH1 reality show "SuperGroup", causing Sebastian to step into the role of unlikely hero to the African-American crew by walking out and going to the producer, refusing to continue working with the Nuge.

The following year, Nugent slammed Bach for his comments, saying: "He falls in the 'inconsequential' column. It's true — the guy smokes so much dope. People like Sebastian Bach will literally listen to me praise Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and Little Richard and James Brown and Wilson Pickett, they'll listen to me praise these black artists and literally call it racist. I mean, how much dope do you have to smoke to be that stupid?"

He continued: "Literally, I'm the one during that TV show that pounded home that we cannot lose touch with our black founding fathers, that if you don't have that groove of the black artists, if you don't have the Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and Little Richard and James Brown groove, your music is worthless. That's what I drove home. And he would call that being a racist? This is funnier than Richard Pryor's afro catching fire. I mean, how stupid can you get?"

"SuperGroup" followed five well-known hard rock and heavy metal musicians — Bach, Nugent, ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian, ex-BIOHAZARD bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld and drummer Jason Bonham (LED ZEPPELIN, BONHAM, UFO, FOREIGNER) — over a twelve-day period during which they lived together in a Las Vegas mansion in order to create, plan and perform a live show together.

In a 2012 interview with Metal-Rules.com, Bach stated about Nugent: "To be honest with you, I think that Ted's political beliefs and social opinions overshadow how great a guitar player he is. More people know Ted for his outrageous views and political viewpoints. His music is so great, but a lot of people are disgusted by him. They don't like guns. People don't like racism, but he says some things that are from the '50s. People don't think like that anymore; it's not acceptable. It's a shame because I love his music and he is funny as hell. He is so abrasive with his beliefs, it takes the fun out of it."

Nugent told Radio.com in 2014 that Bach was "incredibly gifted" and "a gentleman for the most part," but he called the former SKID ROW singer "weak." Nugent explained: "[Sebastian] doesn't understand the concept of the [body as a] Sacred Temple. He doesn't understand accountability. He doesn't understand — clearly — how his indulgences and his poisons ruin his life. And his relationships, and his marriage. And his musical capabilities. I love the guy and if he's watching this, I love you, but when you're the drunk Sebastian Bach, you're nowhere near the Sebastian Bach that you are when you're clean and sober. Case closed. That isn't a Ted Nugent opinion, that's scientific truism."

In 2019, Nugent defended Donald Trump after the then-U.S. president was accused of making racist remarks about Democratic congresswomen from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.




Posted by Ted Nugent on Saturday, March 20, 2021

When psychedelic rock icons MONSTER MAGNET got off the plane in the USA after their "Powertrip" tour of Europe in February 2020, they already realized that they'd dodged a bullet. The band members were all healthy, despite having spent the last week of the month-long excursion gigging overseas, and at that point, many of those countries were in total lockdown. Part two of that tour, North America, was scheduled to begin three weeks later, but the rest is history… no live music, anywhere. So, what's a band that's been touring regularly for 30 years to do with this newfound downtime?

Frontman Dave Wyndorf tells the inspired tale below, but without further ado — Napalm Records is pleased to present the next chapter of MONSTER MAGNET's rabbit hole deep dive, "A Better Dystopia" (out May 21, 2021): a delightfully (and psychotically) curated collection of '60s and '70s proto-metal and late-era psych obscurities covered by the heavy New Jersey legends themselves.

While the album marks a new frontier for MONSTER MAGNET as their first covers record, this is not your typical set of standards released to pass time. "A Better Dystopia" sees the band pay homage to some of their favorite songs of all time, while reflecting on the paranoia, dystopia and revolution of both now — and then.

Fans can experience a first taste of "A Better Dystopia" via the swaggering riffs and swirling vocals on album's first single "Mr. Destroyer" (originally by POO-BAH) today via a new video.

Wyndorf says about the birth of "A Better Dystopia": "We all agreed that we would be bored out of our minds within a month of lockdown. MONSTER MAGNET loves the road. It's a lifestyle. So, I considered our options. Rather than panhandle on the Internet, hawking masks and Zoom-rocking practice sessions for dollars, I suggested we record a 'bunker record.' A total DIY affair (band only) recorded and mixed in Bob Pantella's small-but-potent Freak Shop Studios/rehearsal space right here in New Jersey. But what to record?

"I didn't feel much like writing, but working on anything was better than watching the news as hospitals filled up, people died, and American politics went bat-shit crazy. The world roared 'Dystopia! Apocalypse! Revolution!' I'd heard those words before, and they brought to mind my childhood in the late '60s/early '70s… and the music… and short playlist of songs (just one of many) that I'd been carrying around with me on my whatever device to listen to before shows. Of course, these tunes have also been in my head for more or less my whole life. These were not the popular hits of the time. This was like a playlist from the fourth dimension… strange bits of musical obscurity, mostly dredged up from that inglorious and freaky 'twilight zone' time that preceded arena rock, heavy metal, reggae and disco. A no-man's land of hard rock that still had remnants of psychedelia and garage punk but had abandoned any notion of 'flower power' or frat house fun. And of course, they rocked.

"Yeah, these songs were it."

Wyndorf is at the top of his game on "A Better Dystopia", delivering each lyric in his own inimitable style, and musicians Phil Caivano, Bob Pantella, Garrett Sweeney and Alec Morton own the sound — vintage and old school, dense and heavy, with searing fuzz leads and pounding bass and drums all played in a deft style that's almost been lost in modern music. The album opens with "The Diamond Mine", as Dave Wyndorf recites a classic monologue by Dave Diamond, an American radio DJ whose programs in the late '60s and early '70s helped popularize many psychedelic and acid rock bands. At this point the real trip begins, as the opening chords of the HAWKWIND classic "Born To Go" gear up for launch. Tracks like standout "Mr. Destroyer" (POO-BAH) spur visions of some untold freak revolution — or perhaps dinosaurs battling on a burning planet at the end of time — creating a perfect blend of hard rock and psychedelia. Feverish "Motorcycle (Straight To Hell)" (TABLE SCRAPS) is pure punk fury of the old school tradition, evoking a cross between Iggy Pop and MOTÖRHEAD as Wyndorf wails "I'm gonna drive it straight to HELL!" Falling even further down the mind-bending rabbit hole, MAGNET offers their stunning, whirlwind take on the often-overlooked hard rock classic "Learning To Die" (DUST) and a masterful version of the STOOGES-meets-goth epic "Solid Gold Hell" (THE SCIENTISTS). The album closes with a bonus nuclear cover of MORGEN's "Welcome To The Void", inviting you to restart the ride again and again.

Wyndorf concludes: "The great bands whose music we lovingly interpret here were (and some still are) on the fringe, underrated, and in our opinion, really, really cool. I think that's reason enough for us to do this album. Furthermore, 'A Better Dystopia' is a collection of songs that I think reflect (knowingly or unknowingly) a paranoid time in history, but also deflect that same paranoia by owning it, fully. And of course, it ROCKS."

"A Better Dystopia" track listing:

01. The Diamond Mine

02. Born To Go

03. Epitaph For A Head

04. Solid Gold Hell

05. Be Forewarned

06. Mr. Destroyer

07. When The Wolf Sits

08. Death

09. Situation

10. It's Trash

11. Motorcycle (Straight To Hell)

12. Learning To Die

13. Welcome To The Void (bonus track)

MONSTER MAGNET is:

Dave Wyndorf - Vocals, Guitar

Phil Caivano - Guitar

Garret Sweeny - Guitar

Alec Morton - Bass

Bob Pantella - Drums

Photo credit: Gonzales Photo / Per-Otto Oppi / Alamy Live News

Twice Grammy-nominated band AUGUST BURNS RED has been sharing previously unreleased tracks, such as a cover of SYSTEM OF A DOWN's "Chop Suey!" and its metalized rendition of the theme song for the HBO series "Westworld", over the past several months. Today, the Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based act revealed that these songs (and more) will live on the "Guardians Sessions" EP.

The EP features B-sides, covers, and reimagined tracks, which were recorded during the sessions for 2020's full-length album "Guardians" and beyond.

The EP is being released digitally and on 10-inch vinyl on April 16 through Fearless Records.

To celebrate, the band has shared the track "Icarus", which features a clean vocal cameo from bassist Dustin Davidson.

"'Icarus' was a b-side from 'Guardians' because it just didn't fit the vibe of the album," says Davidson. "I'm happy that our fans can hear it now because it's riffy and super fun to play on guitar. It's the first ABR song that I've sang on, and for fans of my side project, BEST CASE SCENARIO, I think you'll hear the influence sprinkled throughout this one."

Guitarist JB Brubaker explains how this EP came to be. "The 'Guardians Sessions' EP was put together on the foundation of two songs: 'Standing In The Storm' and 'Icarus'," he explains. "Those songs were recorded in September of 2019, when we were finishing up our album 'Guardians'. Both tracks got cut from the record, as we had too much material and they were the black sheep of the group. When all touring was shut down in March of 2020, we began working on a couple of cover songs and re-imagined versions of some songs from 'Guardians'. Those songs were recorded in the summer of 2020. We wanted to be productive with our downtime and work on a project that would be fun for both us and our fans."

"Guardians Sessions" EP track listing:

01. Standing In The Storm

02. Icarus

03. Chop Suey!

04. Westworld

05. Paramount (Reprise)

06. Extinct By Instinct (Reprise)

Nahaya (ft. members of Oceans of Slumber, Vesperian Sorrow, ex-Kingdom Collapse, Painting The Massacre, Cerebral Desecration) will be releasing their new album, entitled Vital Alchemy via Rockshots Records on May 21, 2021. The Texan band is an amalgamation of American melodic groove thrash, Gothenburg sounds, and Middle Eastern influences. The band was founded in 2013 by Ryan Peters with Semir Ozerkan, who immigrated to the US from Istanbul, Turkey to pursue career opportunities in metal, one being with Oceans Of Slumber.

Vital Alchemy follows the band's well-received EPs Transcendence Pt. II (2020) and Transcendence (2018). Since the band's conception, they have been working hard to make a name for themselves independently, performing over 50 shows year-round in Texas and neighboring states including Austin's SXSW festival and becoming national finalists for the 2019 Wacken Metal Battle USA competition.

Mastered by Jamie King (Between The Buried And Me, Scale The Summit), Vital Alchemy is seven tracks that will take fans through a wide range of emotions. There is something on this record for every kind of music lover. From the melody to the groove to the speed and unlike its predecessors that were focused on themes of science fiction, this new record takes on more personal interest, spirituality, and metaphysics along with it being more musically dynamic and experimental, incorporating progressive, acoustic, melancholic sounds with thrashing elements. 

Overall, Vital Alchemy, signifies a rebirth for Nahaya as the new tracks featured on the recording are the next step in the band's evolution when it comes to their musical direction.

Today, the band shares the first single "Deific Mask" in support of the upcoming full-length. The track is one of the fastest on the release. It has pummeling drums, a nasty solo, and a hooky chorus.

The band adds: "We are extremely excited to release our first single ‘Deific Mask’ with our fresh new lineup. ‘Deific Mask’ was written during a major lineup change within Nahaya. The song has a speed metal influence with a catchy clean vocal chorus. We think the song will be a definite circle pit starter live."

Tracklisting:

“Madness Of Maenads”
“Deific Mask”
“Vital Alchemy”
“Incubator”
“Kali Yuga”
“Midnight Fidelio”
“Aghori Fires”

“Deific Mask” video:




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Nashville underground trio Yautja will make their Relapse Records debut with their new album, The Lurch, set for release May 21. 

Yautja's The Lurch amalgamates metal, punk, and noise rock into a ferocious hybrid that has propelled them from the obscurity of the American South onto the international stage. The Lurch was recorded by Scott Evans at Steve Albini's legendary Electrical Audio studio in Chicago and marks another step forward for the innovative band.

Yautja comments, “We’ve spent a lot of time working on these songs and after sitting on this recording for a clusterfuck pandemic of a year, we couldn’t be more ready to share this with the world.”

The Lurch, which features artwork by Brandon Guerts (Pig Destroyer, Melt Banana), will be released on CD, LP, and digital formats. Physical preorders are available via Relapse.com. Digital downloads/streaming services are available here.

From the opening roar of “A Killing Joke” and the ominous noise waves of “Undesirables” to the churning cannonade of “Before The Foal,” The Lurch conveys the personal frustrations and sociopolitical observations of its creators. “We’ve got our bubble of friends and artists and businesses, but you drive 30 minutes out of town, and you see confederate flags or people wearing t-shirts that say, ‘Redneck Lives Matter,’” bassist/vocalist Kayhan Vaziri explains, “so there’s a lot of frustration there, and some the lyrics pertain to that.” 

Elsewhere on the album, tracks such as "Tethered" and "Wired Depths" discuss the various technologies and systems in place befalling the great populace. Rampant displacement of local communities fuel Vaziri's opening screams in the track aptly titled “Catastrophic” - “Forced under society!”

Featuring members of several other musical projects including Thou, Coliseum, Mutilation Rites, and more, Yautja's collective experiences across the underground and experimental subgenres drive their unique sound. The band's palpable malaise, malcontent, and sharpened edges are matched by the album's production - the attack of noisy, whirring guitars constantly veering on dissonance are met with a destructive, mangled low end, as they march on to some of the most creative drumming in the genre. The Lurch showcases a band that is daring, experimental, and unrelenting.

Tracklisting:

“A Killing Joke”
“The Spectacle”
“Wired Depths”
“Undesirables”
“Tethered”
“Clock Cleaner”
“Catastrophic”
“The Weight”
“Before The Foal”

“Tethered” video:

(Photo by: Chappy Hull)




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Emerging from the harsh soil of Canada, death metal unit Perilaxe Occlusion join forces with Debemur Morti Productions. The duo delivered their first musical strike, Exponential Decay demo, last December. As a first act of this new collaboration, the label will put out Perilaxe Occlusion's second demo, Raytraces Of Death, on June 25th.

Guitarist and bassist XT comments on the decision to join us: "Other than Death Metal, we're both fans of Black Metal. Blut Aus Nord is one of my favourite Black Metal bands. I've heard loads of positive feedback of this label. I also heard through a reliable source that the guys in Blut Aus Nord like our music too! How flattering."

The name of the band stems from the so-called "parallax occlusion mapping" which denominates an optical illusion within 3D space. Far from being simply a random and trendy sounding name, Perilaxe Occlusion fuse inspirations coming from 3D modelling, emptiness, and the void into a sound of death:

"There is nothing more empty in the 3D world than a blank grid. You can mold, sculpt, create, dismantle, and destroy anything you want, and how you want. That void of possibility is what's happening in our lyrics. It isn't a lecture, it isn't all-out horror, it's much more complex and darker than that. The riffs and fucked up time signatures add to the suspense of it all. Our anonymity pushes that even further. The goal of this band is to create extremely heavy, twisted, yet cohesive Death Metal. There is a method to the madness. There always will be", states X

Hungarian Budapest-based modern metal band Before We Fall have released a new single and video, "Healed By Fear". The track is taken from eponymous EP which is set to release on April 30th via Finnish record label Inverse Records. The EP was recorded at Stray Heart Records was mixed and mastered at No Silence Studios.

Check out the video for "Healed By Fear" below.

The band comments: "Our new EP, Healed by Fear, contains three songs, each revolving around the topic of finding a way inside to our real self. For the title song we've made a music video, where the original intention was to create a cold and eerie atmosphere with which we can reach the state of mind in where we can reveal and overcome our true self, fears and darkest emotions. As 'Healed by Fear' is our second music video, from visual aspect we've also tried to create something different from what we did in the first one 'Nothing's Gonna Be The Same'."

Tracklist:

"Healed By Fear"
"Close To The End"
"For The Fallen Ones"

Line-up:
Róth Henrik – vocals, guitar
Tagscherer István – guitar
Somodi Dániel – bass guitar
Vadász József - drums

Photo by David Bodnar Photography




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MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson and SONS OF APOLLO vocalist Jeff Scott Soto have been collaborating on some new material recently under the moniker ELLEFSON-SOTO. The ELLEFSON-SOTO version of the RIOT classic "Swords & Tequila" has just been released across all digital streaming outlets via Ellefson's Combat Records.The song was originally featured on the 1981 RIOT LP "Fire Down Under" (Elektra). The playthrough video can be seen below.

ELLEFSON-SOTO's version of "Swords & Tequila" was produced by David Ellefson and Andy Martongelli, mixed by Alessio Garavello in Wembley, England and mastered by Maor Appelbaum in Los Angeles, California. The video is directed by Elia Turra for Fisheye Studio in Verona, Italy.

The ELLEFSON-SOTO recording lineup:

David Ellefson - Bass

Jeff Scott Soto - Lead Vocals

Andy Martongelli - Lead & Rhythm Guitars

Paolo Caridi - Drums

Rick Hughes - Lead Vocals (on "Swords & Tequila")

Says Ellefson: "Jeff and I have been friends for so many years that it's great to finally collaborate on some material together. He has such a distinctive voice and perfect style for some new ideas my guitarist Andy Martongelli and I have been composing. We are excited about the progress of it all and thought this would be a perfect time to give a little sneak preview."

Jeff adds: "As COVID-19 became a big negative around the globe, it actually offered many artists a chance to finally collaborate with one another that might have never happened otherwise… As I have known David for many years, I knew from our other efforts outside of our day jobs that we could come up with some badass jams…and here we are, letting you in on our cool little secret."

As for the choice of cover song, Ellefson reminisced: "The first time I ever heard of RIOT was on the Castle Donington 'Monsters Of Rock' album from 1980. For me, they were the USA representatives during the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. And 'Swords & Tequila', along with the entire 'Fire Down Under' album for that matter, show the band delivering its rowdy and high-energy rock and roll like no other band in the USA was doing at that time. So, it is an honor to offer them much-deserved reverence, as well as a reminiscent tribute to the mighty Guy Speranza, who fronted the band like a god during that period."

Soto adds: "What can I say? This was a classic metal track from RIOT that we all knew growing up, when David brought up that we should cover it I was thrilled. But when we added Rick Hughes from the band SWORD onto it, it truly came to life! 40 years after its release, we hope you dig this new version we built for you!"

Vocalist Rick Hughes is the founding frontman of the iconic Quebec power metal group SWORD. The Canadian quartet formed in 1981 and has released a string of metal classics, including its eponymous 1984 Aquarias Records debut "Metalized" which has been esteemed by fans and musicians alike, including the likes of METALLICA, MEGADETH, MOTÖRHEAD and many more.

Hughes explains: "To me, music has always been the best medicine and that is why in this time of not being able to perform with live musicians in front of a live audience, I was more than happy to participate in this camaraderie of seasoned musicians."

More new tracks from ELLEFSON-SOTO are in the works with release details to be announced.

In a brand new interview with France's Heavy1, Rob Halford spoke about his decision to leave JUDAS PRIEST in 1992 before going on to record and tour with the aggressive metal group FIGHT and the industrial project 2WO before his return to traditional metal with the eponymous band HALFORD in 2000 and eventual PRIEST comeback in 2003. Asked if it was important for him to explain his side of the story in his autobiography, "Confess", which came out last year, Halford said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think it's important, yes. There are lots of unauthorized books about PRIEST, and they're all made up of little tidbits of gossip and information or rehashed interviews from other magazines. If you want the truth, you go to the source.

"Never in a million years would I ever have wanted to leave — formally leave, go away — from JUDAS PRIEST," he continued. "It was genuinely a communication breakdown.

"Artists, musicians, we're super-sensitive people. My God, the smallest thing can make us [react negatively]. Me, diva — the diva Metal God. And that's just kicked back artistic sensitive emotional instinct. So I thought here was an opportunity just to try and explain what really did happen. And it just seems crazy that 10 years had to pass. But as I say in the book, some of that was not coming from me; it was coming from different places. And so just to set the record straight, I think, was important."

Rob previously spoke about his exit from PRIEST during a September 2020 interview with Chris Warburton of BBC Sounds. At the time, he said: "I was in a different place there professionally, especially associated with some of the business connections that I had at the time.

"We finished that glorious 'Painkiller' world tour, which was a real slog," he continued. "All of these tours that we do, they're incredibly long and tiring, but we do it because we love to do it; we love to see our fans around the world. But prior to this 'Painkiller' tour, we'd gone through that really, really difficult time with the Reno trial" — referring the infamous 1990 trial in which PRIEST was accused of inserting subliminal messages into its music — "so we had that kind of filtering behind us in the background as we forged ahead with this incredible 'Painkiller' record and tour.

"Hindsight, call it what you will, we should have said, or I should have said, at the end of that 'Painkiller' tour, 'Guys, I'm gonna go off for a couple of years and just chill and maybe do some stuff.' But that's not the way it turned out. We just fell into this terrible miscommunication. Bands are like families — you fall out in your family. It took about 10 years for us to repair that, particularly on my part. But there you go. At least I was able to get out of my system the things that I was searching for as a musician. I had my great times with the FIGHT band, the 2WO project, the HALFORD project. It all led me back to the place where I was destined to be as a musician, which is to be with JUDAS PRIEST."

FIGHT's initial lineup was completed by JUDAS PRIEST/RACER X drummer Scott Travis, Russ Parrish (a.k.a. Satchel of STEEL PANTHER) on guitar, Brian Tilse on guitar and keyboards and Jay Jay on bass.

FIGHT released two studio albums in the early 1990s — 1993's "War Of Words" and 1995's "A Small Deadly Space".

The 2WO project issued the much-maligned "Voyeurs" album in 1998 via Trent Reznor's Nothing Records label and sold poorly before Halford returned to his roots and formed the aforementioned HALFORD.

Although Reznor is given "executive producer" credit for the "Voyeurs" disc, the project is largely the work of Halford and co-writers John 5 and Bob Marlette.

Halford's autobiography, "Confess", was released via Hachette Books. The book was described by the U.K.'s The Telegraph as "one of the most candid and surprising memoirs" of last year.

In a new interview with Atlanta's Rock 100.5 radio station, Alice Cooper was asked which band he would sing for if he wasn't fronting his own outfit. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think probably the FOO FIGHTERS. Only because they're exactly… When they do my songs, they do it exactly like the band. I mean, it's amazing. I've done a bunch of things with the FOO FIGHTERS, and a lot of their influence was Alice Cooper. The guys in the band, they said they learned how to play listening to our early albums. So when I go up on stage with the FOO FIGHTERS, they nail my songs — they do 'em exactly the way they should be done. So I'd probably be in that band, if they ever needed a really sick lead singer."

He went on to praise the musicianship in FOO FIGHTERS, saying: "First of all, they've got the two best drummers. People keep forgetting that Dave Grohl… The first time I saw NIRVANA, I looked right past the first two guys, and I said, 'Who's this drummer?' 'Cause he was really good; he stuck out. And I said, 'If that band ever breaks up, I'm going for that drummer.' … I went up and did a couple of songs with [FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins's] band also. And he is really something. Hawkins is the Energizer bunny."

Alice's new studio album, "Detroit Stories", was released on February 26 via earMUSIC.

Named for the city that launched the original Alice Cooper group on the road to success, "Detroit Stories" follows 2019's "Breadcrumbs" EP as a modern-day homage to the toughest and craziest rock and roll scene there ever was.

"Detroit Stories" was recorded with producer Bob Ezrin, mostly in Royal Oak with Detroit musicians and featuring a mix of original material alongside covers of songs by Bob Seger, the MC5, Mitch Ryder's DETROIT and OUTRAGEOUS CHERRY.

Cooper recently said that his next studio album will be the first to feature the current lineup of his solo band: Tommy Henriksen (guitar), Nita Strauss (guitar), Ryan Roxie (guitar), Chuck Garric (bass) and Glen Sobel (drums).