Metal songwriter, producer and keyboardist Adrian Benegas has released a lyric video for "Orphan of Life”, a soaring symphonic metal track featuring vocalist Herbie Langhans (Firewind, Avantasia) and producer Sascha Paeth (Avantasia, Kamelot, Epica). It can be viewed below

About the new video, Adrian comments: "This video is not simply like other lyric videos. The whole video was programmed and designed from zero in 3D, it’s not the conventional lyric video with stock images on the background and lyrics pasted in front. For this one, our visual designer created this sort of 'energetic parallel dimension' where Herbie stands and performs the song amazingly! I'm very proud of what we've created together. This is a gift for the fans who are constantly supporting in good and bad moments (like these weird pandemic times), so thank you and I hope you’ll enjoy it."

"Orphan Of Life" is available on all digital platforms here. It is the first single of the upcoming production to be revealed, with more tracks being released in the coming months. 

Benegas is known for being the founder of symphonic metal act Tragul, as well as his debut solo album The Revenant. On these productions he has worked with numerous world class musicians including Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Henning Basse (Metallium, Mayan), Zuberoa Aznarez (Diabulus in Musica), Alex Holzwarth (Rhapsody of Fire), and Oliver Holzwarth (Blind Guardian, Tarja).

For more information go to Benegas' Facebook page here.  




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The At The Movies project - launched by Pretty Maids guitarist Chris Laney due to the COVID-19 pandemic - caught fire over the course of 2020, and the project has now moved on to movie soundtrack covers from the '90s. The clips below feature the band members discussing how they got involved with the At The Movies and revealing the songs they found the hardest to cover.

The core At The Movies players are:

Björn "Speed" Strid (Soilwork) - lead / backing vocals
Linnéa Vikström Egg (Therion) - lead / backing vocals
Chris Laney (Pretty Maids) - guitars
Allan Sørensen (Royal Hunt, Pretty Maids) - drums
Morten Sandager (Pretty Maids) - keyboards
Pontus Norgren (HammerFall) - guitars
Pontus Egberg (King Diamond) - bass

Check out a few of the covers below.




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Viking metallers Thyrfing are gearing up to release a new single, "Döp Dem I Eld". It will be their first release in eight years. Their label Despotz Records has checked in with the following update:

"The upcoming digital single 'Döp Dem I Eld' from Thyrfing will premiere on the Despotz Records YouTube channel on March 19th. This is exclusive; it is the band's first-ever official music video. This stunning piece of art was directed by Patric Ullaeus for rEvolver, featuring the talents of Fae Fire Group and a somewhat surprising cast..."

Check out the trailer below. Pre-save the single on a streaming service of your choice here.




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UK alt-metal upstarts, Vexed, instantly turned heads and took names with the release of two recent standalone singles - including the fearsome “Elite” featuring Thy Art Is Murder’s CJ McMahon - creating a palpable underground buzz and giving fans a hefty sample of what to expect in the future. Now, the wait is over - the crushing Hertfordshire foursome have resurfaced with the announcement of their aggressive and uncompromising debut full-length, Culling Culture, out May 21 via Napalm Records.

The band recently released their official video for "Hideous" and have followed up with a guitar playthrough video for the track. Check it out below.

With their devastatingly heavy first output, Vexed underline their refusal to be pigeonholed into sonically conformist categories. Their instrumental dagger is sharpened by unrelentingly adept, technical prowess, gripping you with assertive swagger and hyper-focused brutality. Moreover, for as confident as they are musically, Vexed is as poignant lyrically. The title of the album, Culling Culture, and portions of its contents deliver the band’s unfiltered response to the world’s latest social phenomena of public ostracism, “cancel culture”.

Facing very personal experiences, Culling Culture is a tribute to hate, betrayal and anger, whilst also reflecting post-modern society with strikingly honest songwriting and heavy groove. Their first single, “Hideous”, along with a captivating official music video, not only serves as a first taste and vicious wake up call, but also showcases that anger can either destroy you or provide real strength. With this offering, Vexed prove the latter.

Vexed on their first single: “It gives us great satisfaction to share with you our Grindhouse inspired music video for our debut single, 'Hideous'. Fueled by the feeling of ‘seeing red’ and having to decide how to react in moments of betrayal and rage, do you let your blood boil over or sit and wait for the killing instinct to pass?”

Unrelenting lead vocalist Megan Targett’s vicious vocal assault blending venomously low growls, soaring cleans and razor-sharp rap-like deliveries (see “Fake” and “Weaponise”) is backed by the pure technical proficiency of bandmates Willem Mason-Geraghty (drums), Jay Bacon (guitar) and Al Harper (bass). The warning instrumental “Ignorant” prefaces the record’s menacing atmosphere and provides a flawless basis for smashing wake up call “Hideous” and fiery, threatening tracks “Fake” and “Narcissist”. Ghostly “Aurora” and disrespectfully heavy album-closer “Lazarus” showcase Targett’s multi-faceted clean vocal delivery while clashing otherworldly auras with resonating, melodic rhythms. “Epiphany” blends both, offering a bold message of moving past self-loathing, while superciliously weighty offering “Weaponise” seethes between violent hatred and ambient darkness.

Pre-order Vexed’s debut album Culling Culture here.

Culling Culture will be available in the following formats:

- 1-CD Digipak
- 1-LP Gatefold Vinyl (Black)
- 1-LP Gatefold Vinyl (Orange transparent, strictly limited to 100 copies)
- 1-CD Digipak + T-Shirt Bundle
- Digital Album

Tracklisting:

"Ignorant"
"Hideous"
"Fake"
"Epiphany"
"Misery"
"Narcissist"
"Weaponise"
"Purity"
"Drift"
"Aurora"
"Lazarus"




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International melodic death metal band Act Of Denial have signed a deal with Crusader Records (part of Golden Robot Global Entertainment) which will see their debut album, Negative, released in 2021.

On top of the signing announcement, Act Of Denial will release a new single, "Slave", on March 29th which features a guest appearance by ex-Soilwork guitarist Pete Wichers. 

Act of Denial is an international melodic death metal group founded by lead guitarist and songwriter Voi Cox(Koziak, Victim) & guitarist Luger (Koziak, Benighted-Cro) in early 2020.

The band lineup is a metal who’s who and features vocalist Björn Strid (Soilwork), bassist Steve Di Giorgio (Death, Testament), drummer Kerim "Krimh" Lechner (Septicflesh) and keyboardist John Lönnmyr (The Night Flight Orchestra). The band also features other big names and special guests such as Bobby Koelble (Death), Peter Wichers (ex-Soilwork), Matias "IA" Eklundh (Freak Kitchen) and Ron ‘’Bumblefoot’’ Thal (Guns N' Roses, Sons of Apollo) who all contributed solos to the album.

The band's debut album has been preceded by three recent singles: "Puzzle Heart", "Controlled" and "Down That Line". Negative was mixed at Studio Fredman by legendary producer Fredrik Nordström (At The Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy). 

Tracklist:

"Puzzle Heart"
"Controlled"
"Down That Line"
"Negative"
"Reflection Wall"
"In The Depths Of Destruction"
"Lost Circle"
"Your Dark Desires"
"Slave"
"Clutching At Rails Of Light"

"Puzzle Heart"

"Controlled"

"Down That Line"




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Toronto rockers Danko Jones will release their new single, "I Want Out" on Friday, March 12th. The song is taken from their forthcoming album, Power Trio, which is due to be released on August 27th. It was produced by Eric Ratz.

Danko: "I’m gonna be real here, it FUCKING RULES. I’m very proud we made this album and HOW we made this album."

Tracklist:

"I Want Out"
"Good Lookin'"
"Saturday"
"Ship Of Lies"
"Raise Some Hell"
"Blue Jean Denim Jumpsuit"
"Get To You"
"Dangerous Kiss"
"Let’s Rock Together"
"Flaunt It"
"Start The Show" (feat. Phil Campbell)

Danko Jones exists to rock. It’s his innate, guttural mode of expression. His daily ritual. His life’s work. Now, after 25 years, 10 albums, world tours with the rock gods like Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N' Roses and Motörhead, the band announces their return to the stage with two shows at Hamilton, Ontario's premiere venue, Bridgeworks.

Over the past 25 years, the band has made a name for themselves as a must-see live band and after a year with no shows, they're itching to get back out there. Danko Jones, the band's frontman and namesake comments, "2021 is the 25th anniversary of our band. 25 years of non-stop performing, touring and recording. To celebrate our silver jubilee, we are holding our first ever livestreams and we may even be premiering some new material… This has been the longest break in the history of our band so without a doubt, these livestreams will be like letting wild animals out of cages. Are you ready? We’re goddamn ready."

The livestream shows will take place on March 12 at 8 PM, EST // 5 PM, PST in North America, and on March 13 at 8 PM, CET in Europe, but you will be able to tune in to both shows from anywhere in the world. Tickets and information for North America can be found here,n and for Europe here.




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On April 23, Capra will release their debut full-length, In Transmission, via Blacklight Media / Metal Blade Records. New single, "Samuriah Carey" , can be streamed below.

In Transmission can be preordered in the following formats:

- jewelcase-CD
- white / black marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 250 copies)
- yellow w/ black dust vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 250 copies)
- clear w/ pink and black splatter vinyl (US exclusive)

Formed in 2016 by guitarist Tyler Harper and drummer Jeremy Randazzo, who had previously worked together in multiple projects, Harper had just come out of a 90-day stint in rehab and was looking to focus on something new. The initial idea was to create something that would be fresh while still giving listeners a sense of nostalgia for the sounds of the late 90's and early 2000's hardcore and punk scenes. After going through a few line-up changes, they ultimately added bassist Ben Paramore and vocalist Crow Lotus, and everything came together. "This band symbolizes that hard work, determination, passion, and drive can lead to success. We're all very outspoken on our past struggles and intend to help others that feel like they're in a hole so deep that they can't climb out of it," Harper asserts. In Transmission is literally the culmination of years of hard work, reflecting everything they have been writing and pouring into the band since solidifying the lineup. "We wanted it to be the heaviest and most complete record we could possibly lay down, composed of only the best songs we've written over years of playing together. It's the best set of songs we've ever had, and we're all extremely proud of them, and each other, so we hope it sounds like a total passion project - because it is," says Paramore.

Predominantly tracked in December 2019, In Transmission was recorded with Jai Benoit (Golgothan, Father Rust), then mixed by Taylor Young (Nails, Twitching Tongues) and mastered by Brad Boatwright (Pig Destroyer, Integrity, Torche, Idle Hands). The only exceptions were "Mutt," "Transfiguration," and "Deadbeat Assailant," which were recorded during the pandemic lockdown, and required the members to go into the studio individually to lay down their parts rather than all going in together. The hardest aspect of making the record turned out to be naming it. "We went through a plethora of titles trying to find what we felt was the perfect name," Paramore says. "We've been sitting on the majority of this record since the end of 2019 and had originally hoped to send it out to the masses mid-summer, but thanks to the pandemic, all of that obviously got pushed back. In a lot of ways, this is a message we've been trying to send out that has essentially been stuck or lost in transmission for a year now, and we're all ready for that message to finally be received."

Cover art by Ben Fruit:

Tracklisting:

“[Exordium]”
“Hollow Doll”
“The Locust Preacher”
“Medusa”
“Torture Ship”
“Paper Tongues”
“Mutt”
“Transfiguration”
“Red Guillotine”
“Deadbeat Assailant”
“Samuriah Carey” 

"Samuriah Carey":

“The Locust Preacher”:




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German heavy metal supergroup Hellryder have announced the release of their full-length album The Devil Is A Gambler, out on May 28, 2021 via ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records. Preorder here.

Since 2017, Chris Boltendahl and Axel Ritt have been thinking about bringing a project to life which deals with the origin of metal. Usually extensively involved in their main band Grave Digger, unfortunately and due to the pandemic, 99% of all activities became canceled or postponed overnight. This unexpected time window of opportunities opened up and was finally used from Boltendahl and Ritt. The first songs were recorded in September 2020 and Hellryder took shape; an idea led into a project and in November 2020 to a real band. With drummer Timmi Breideband (Gregorian, ex-Bonfire, ex-Freedom Call) and bass player Steven Wussow (Orden Ogan, ex-Domain, ex-Xandria), two absolute thoroughbred musicians could be won and complete the line-up into a real German metal supergroup. Hellryder stand for straightforward, metallically hard, diabolical and uncompromising traditional heavy metal.

Formats:
-Digipak CD
-Limited digipak CD & T-Shirt Bundle
-Black Vinyl (LTD. 150) incl. signed A3 poster
-Transp. Yellow Vinyl (LTD. 150) incl. autograph card
-Orange/Red Splatter Vinyl (LTD. 200) incl. autograph card
-Digital streaming/download

Tracklisting:

“Hellryder”
“Sacrifice In Paradise”
“Night Rider”
“The Devil Is A Gambler”
“Jekyll & Hyde”
“Faceless Jesus”
“Chainsaw Lilly”
“I Die For You”
“Bad Attitude”
“Passion Maker”
“Harder Faster Louder”
“I Don’t Wanna Die” (Bonus Track)




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Ghosts Of Sunset have been on a roll lately. 2020 was a break-out year for the band with singles “Miles In-Between”, “Never Goodbye” and “Another Rock N Roll Show” clocking up several hundred thousand streams. To top that off, they recently released their debut EP Headed West, to strong fan and critical acclaim.

Now the band wants to give something back to the music industry.

With live music being taken away in 2020 and into 2021, Ghosts Of Sunset’s John Merchant and Todd Long were missing the stage and the fan interaction. With the help of friends Eric Jayk (Wildstreet) and Brandon Fields (Minefield), they wrote a song to do their part to help struggling music venues. The result is “All I Wanna Do Is Rock”, with proceeds going to Save Our Stages.

“All I Wanna Do Is Rock” will be released March 29 on all streaming platforms. Preorder / pre-save here.




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Grief Collector, featuring former Candlemass singer Robert Lowe, is streaming their new single “Wintersick”. The single is taken from their upcoming album, En Delirium, out May 14 via Petrichor Records. 

Grief Collector was formed by ex-members of Signs Of Rain (current guitar/bassist Matt Johnson), Among The Serpents (current drummer Brad Miller) and Candlemass/Solitude Aeturnus (Robert Lowe). Their aim was to combine doom, some sludge and feelings of sorrow and tragedy into a musical mix that could stand the test of time. This resulted in their first mini-CD From Dissension To Avowal. Grief Collector slowly established that they could no longer be ignored by simply displaying their unique sound. The band came in contact with Petrichor and a deal was struck to release the band’s latest offering En Delerium. The album will be released on all formats and the first pressing of the CD-version will contain the debut-MCD as a bonus. 

Album notes:

-LP comes as 180 grams audiophile vinyl with download card
-2-CD comes as a deluxe edition with slipcase
-The CD version contains the debut From Dissension To Avowal as bonus
-Engineered and mixed by Matt Johnson at Phantom Studio 
-Mastered by Toneshed Studio (Dead Head, Pestilence, Pentacle and more)




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Portland death metal band, Vitriol, are premiering their live video for “The Parting Of ANeck”. The track is off the band’s debut album, To Bathe From The Throat Of Cowardice, released in fall 2019 via Century Media Records.

"Being this far along in a world without live music we're feeling especially grateful that Dylan (producer) did such a beautiful job immortalizing this performance from our last tour. 'The Parting Of A Neck' has always been a special song for us and has since grown only more significant. The song debuted as a couch-bound playthrough and seeing it get the live treatment at this point feels like the perfect way to punctuate a long period of striving. A true then and now. Vitriol offers tremendous thanks to those of you who have shown your support in these formative times. We are hard at work on what's next,” states Vitriol frontman Kyle Rasmussen.

Fronted by the dual vocal assault given from guitarist Kyle Rasmussen and bassist Adam Roethlisberger, and driven by the inhuman drummer Scott Walker, Vitriol proved to make a successful strike at the genre's heart with their 2017 EP, Pain Will Define Their Death. Released via Italy's Everlasting Spew, it already provided a shockingly intense glimpse at the whirlwind that is To Bathe From The Throat Of Cowardice.

Lineup:

Kyle Rasmussen (vocals/guitars)
Adam Roethlisberger (vocals/bass)
Scott Walker (drums)




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Swedish rockers, Thundermother, will release a deluxe edition of their fourth album, Heat Wave, on May 21 via AFM Records.

The initial release of the Heat Wave album reached #6 on the official German charts. Feature guests like Jesper Binzer (D-A-D) und Dregen (Backyard Babies/Hellacopters) join the band on this Deluxe Edition. It contains as a bonus three brand new tracks, three live tracks from Wacken World Wide, one Japan bonus track and acoustic versions of famous evergreens.

Pre-order here, and watch a video for "The Road Is Ours" below.

CD tracklisting:

CD1:
"Loud And Alive"
"Dog From Hell"
"Back In ‘76"
"Into The Mud"
"Heat Wave"
"Sleep"
"Driving In Style"
"Free Ourselves"
"Mexico"
"Purple Sky"
"Ghosts"
"Somebody Love Me"
"Bad Habits"

CD2:
"The Road Is Ours"
"Show Me What You Got"
"You Can´t Handle Me"
"Driving In Style" (Acoustic)
"Dog From Hell" (Acoustic)
"Sleep Feat. Jesper Binzer" (Acoustic)
"Give Me Some Lights" (Live)
"Thunderous" (Live)
"Hellevator" (Live)
"Rock'n'Roll Heaven" (feat. Dregen & Pontus Snibb)

"The Road Is Ours" video:




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Tony Iommi says that he is "not at all happy" about the release of the Ronnie James Dio-era BLACK SABBATH song titled "Slapback" which was uploaded to YouTube several days ago.

Gary Rees, the stepson and executor of the estate of SABBATH's longtime keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, shared the track last Friday (March 5), writing in an accompanying message that he had found it on a cassette tape that contained other material recorded during SABBATH's 1979 songwriting sessions for the following year's album "Heaven And Hell".

Asked in an interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" on Thursday (March 11) what he could remember anything about this purportedly unreleased tune, Iommi said: "I'm not at all happy with [Nicholls's estate releasing the song] — at all. And it's left a really bad taste in my mouth. At that point, when we did that, Geoff wasn't even involved in the band; I hadn't even got Geoff over at that time. That is actually Ronnie playing bass on that… And that was just in the lounge recorded on a cassette."

As for why "Slapback" never saw the light of day before, Iommi said: "We had one or two things that we'd jam around on and play on and stuff, but it [wasn't] right for the album, so we didn't put it into shape; we didn't record it [properly] or anything," he explained.

Iommi's assertion that Dio played bass on "Slapback" seemingly contradicts Geezer Butler's claim that he is featured on the track. On Monday, the BLACK SABBATH bassist told "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that "Slapback" was one of the songs he and his bandmates worked on before he exited SABBATH for a short time in order to deal with some personal issues. "It's probably the reason I did leave," he joked. "It was just one of those songs that didn't make the grade."

Asked if he in fact played bass on the recording that was uploaded to YouTube, Butler said: "Yeah, that was right before I left. It was just a one-off thing. We just jammed it and didn't think anything more of it. It didn't really work."

The "Slapback" upload came a month and a half after Rees shared a previously unreleased rehearsal recording of BLACK SABBATH playing the "Heaven And Hell" title track during the same sessions. That recording featured Nicholls on bass due to Butler's absence during the initial writing stage for the LP.

Butler went on to say that it's "incredible" to see both these recordings see the light of day more than 40 years later. "And it's quite good quality as well," he said. "I've heard the two songs from the Geoff Nicholls thing. It's reasonable quality."

Dio joined SABBATH for the first time in 1979 and quickly found kindred spirits in Butler, Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. When "Heaven And Hell" was released in April 1980, the album was met with effusive reviews for the band's return to form on metal masterpieces like "Neon Knights" and the title track. The LP reached No. 9 in the U.K. and No. 28 in the U.S., where it was also certified platinum.

Released on March 5, "Heaven And Hell: Deluxe Edition" added several bonus tracks that have never been made available in North America, including versions of "Children Of The Sea" and "Die Young" recorded live in 1980 in Hartford, Connecticut. The set concludes with live rarities like "E5150" and "Neon Knights" that originally appeared in 2007 on the Rhino Handmade's limited edition collection "Black Sabbath: Live At Hammersmith Odeon".

Nicholls died in January 2017 after a long battle with lung cancer.

Geoff, who played keyboards on all of SABBATH's albums between 1980 and 1995 and toured with them, was reportedly in remission from cancer at the time of his death but succumbed to the side effects of chemotherapy.

Nicholls's first appearance on a SABBATH album was on "Heaven And Hell". Although his main role with SABBATH was on the keyboard, Nicholls also played some rhythm guitar at concerts. In addition to not always being credited as a full member of the band, Nicholls rarely appeared on stage during SABBATH shows and would instead play on the side of the stage or backstage.

Nicholls's involvement with the band ended when Adam Wakeman (a member of Ozzy Osbourne's solo band) was chosen to play keyboards during SABBATH's 2004 and 2005 tours as part of Ozzfest.

Geezer Butler has confirmed that he is featured on a previously unreleased Ronnie James Dio-era BLACK SABBATH song titled "Slapback" which was uploaded to YouTube several days ago.

Gary Rees, the stepson and executor of the estate of SABBATH's longtime keyboardist Geoff Nicholls, shared the track last Friday (March 5), writing in an accompanying message that he had found it on a cassette tape that contained other material recorded during SABBATH's 1979 songwriting sessions for the following year's album "Heaven And Hell".

Asked in an interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" on Monday (March 8) if he knew anything about this purportedly unreleased tune, Butler said: "Yeah, that was one of the songs that we did before I left," referring to the fact that he exited SABBATH for a short time during the "Heaven And Hell" sessions while he was dealing with some personal issues. "It's probably the reason I did leave. [Laughs] It was just one of those songs that didn't make the grade."

Asked if he in fact played bass on the recording that was uploaded to YouTube, Butler said: "Yeah, that was right before I left. It was just a one-off thing. We just jammed it and didn't think anything more of it. It didn't really work."

The "Slapback" upload came a month and a half after Rees shared a previously unreleased rehearsal recording of BLACK SABBATH playing the "Heaven And Hell" title track during the same sessions. That recording featured Nicholls on bass due to Butler's absence during the initial writing stage for the LP.

Butler went on to say that it's "incredible" to see both these recordings see the light of day more than 40 years later. "And it's quite good quality as well," he said. "I've heard the two songs from the Geoff Nicholls thing. It's reasonable quality."

Dio joined SABBATH for the first time in 1979 and quickly found kindred spirits in Butler, guitarist Tony Iommi and drummer Bill Ward. When "Heaven And Hell" was released in April 1980, the album was met with effusive reviews for the band's return to form on metal masterpieces like "Neon Knights" and the title track. The LP reached No. 9 in the U.K. and No. 28 in the U.S., where it was also certified platinum.

Released on March 5, "Heaven And Hell: Deluxe Edition" added several bonus tracks that have never been made available in North America, including versions of "Children Of The Sea" and "Die Young" recorded live in 1980 in Hartford, Connecticut. The set concludes with live rarities like "E5150" and "Neon Knights" that originally appeared in 2007 on the Rhino Handmade's limited edition collection "Black Sabbath: Live At Hammersmith Odeon".

In a recent interview with Songfacts, Iommi was asked how the songwriting compared to when Dio was the singer in SABBATH as opposed to Ozzy Osbourne. He responded: "It was different. With Ozz, we tend to jam usually, and then Ozzy would sometimes be in the room, sometimes he wouldn't. And sometimes he'd hear something and go, 'Oh yeah,' and start singing something to it. It depends on what periods. We'd play and come up with a format for a song, and then he'd listen to it and start coming up with a melody. With Dio, he was a little bit more involved because he played an instrument [bass] and was more musical. And that's not knocking Ozzy, because Ozzy was great at what he did, but Dio was a little more involved. I could sit down quietly and play something to Ronnie, and he'd say, 'Yeah, I like that.' He'd start singing, and then go, 'Can I go through a change now? What about that note there? Oh yeah, that's good.' We'd work together and bounce back with each other."

Nicholls died in January 2017 after a long battle with lung cancer.

Geoff, who played keyboards on all of SABBATH's albums between 1980 and 1995 and toured with them, was reportedly in remission from cancer at the time of his death but succumbed to the side effects of chemotherapy.

Nicholls's first appearance on a SABBATH album was on "Heaven And Hell". Although his main role with SABBATH was on the keyboard, Nicholls also played some rhythm guitar at concerts. In addition to not always being credited as a full member of the band, Nicholls rarely appeared on stage during SABBATH shows and would instead play on the side of the stage or backstage.

Nicholls's involvement with the band ended when Adam Wakeman (a member of Ozzy Osbourne's solo band) was chosen to play keyboards during SABBATH's 2004 and 2005 tours as part of Ozzfest.

In a new interview with the St. Louis, Missouri radio station KSHE 95, Paul Stanley spoke about his continued partnership with fellow KISS co-founder Gene Simmons — this despite their seeming like extremely different types of people. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "He's my brother. His family is my family. I think of Shannon, his wife, as my sister-in-law. We've never been closer than we are now. We've come so far and done so many great things for each other, it would be ungrateful if we were anything less. We're there to cheer each other on and text each other. We're more than good."

Last July, Stanley admitted to "Live From Nerdville With Joe Bonamassa" that he "didn't particularly like" Simmons the first time they met. "But there was pragmatism involved," he said. "You have to prioritize and figure what's most important to you to reach your goal. And I knew that Gene and I were much stronger together than me alone. I'm not really sure that he knew that, but that became irrelevant. It was, 'How do I get where I wanna go? How do I achieve what I want?' And Gene was essential to it. And here we are 50-plus years later. It's astounding. We've created something that seems like it will outlast us."

In 2019, Stanley told Dean Delray's "Let There Be Talk" podcast his relationship with Gene wasn't affected by the release of Stanley's 2014 memoir, "Face The Music: A Life Exposed".

"Gene's always been very accepting," Paul said. "And we've only gotten closer and closer over time, which is just terrific. I said things in the book that I felt were true, and I would stand by what I said. But it doesn't negate that in the scheme of things, he's been a terrific partner, he's a brother, and he's family. Certainly there were things that I spoke about in the book that aren't true anymore, but they were, to me, at some point. And that book was really my overview of my life. And I really didn't say anything to hurt anyone, and I didn't wanna throw anybody under the bus. There were a few people who walked under the bus — I didn't have to throw 'em. I think Gene has always respected that I have my own perspective. And, again, I couldn't be closer to him than I am now. Totally. I speak to him often.

"It would be crazy and sad to go through what we've done together and what we've accomplished and have ill will or animosity," he continued. "If anything, the two of us look at each other and go, 'Wow!' In those moments of candor, or when we're just talking to each other, or texting each other, there are those texts where it's, like, 'Wow! Look what we've done.' So, yeah, anybody who thinks otherwise is sadly mistaken. His family is my family. Shannon, I've known Shannon probably 35-plus years. [Gene's kids] Nick and Sophie, I feel like their uncle.

"Look, when [my son] Evan was born, the first person in the room to see him was Gene," Paul added. "Even when things have been tough, or there's been tensions in the past — and not in the near past — we always were family. When we had our big earthquake in the '90s, basically I wasn't talking to Gene at the time, and as soon as the ground stopped shaking, I called him. I said, 'Are you okay?' He said, 'Yeah.' And then we kept not talking to each other. But the most important thing was making sure he was okay.

"I'm very, very lucky to have him. And I don't necessarily agree with everything he does. But does anybody?"

In "Face The Music: A Life Exposed", Stanley insisted that his relationship with Simmons has slowly improved over time. But Paul also wrote: "[Gene] chose to ignore his underlying issues and instead committed himself to creating an external façade and persona that, unfortunately, he felt required to knock down anyone who threatened his singularity in the spotlight." He also dismissed the notion that Simmons is some kind of financial genius. "Gene's most successful venture in business was promoting the perception that he was a savvy businessman," Paul wrote.

A few years back, Paul admitted that he "read a little bit of" Gene Simmons's book when it first came out but that he had a different recollection of some of their shared history. While reading Gene's book, Stanley felt, "Gee, I thought I did that. I thought that was me. You thought you were me," he said.

KISS's farewell trek was launched in January 2019 and 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).

Sammy Hagar received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier today (Thursday, March 11).

The 73-year-old former VAN HALEN frontman took to his Instagram to share a video of him getting the final dose of the vaccine. He wrote in a caption: "I dislike shots as much as anyone. But I want to get back to playing live concerts, traveling the world without putting anyone at any risk my family my friends and myself Included. #2shot #moderna #bettersafethansorry #letitrock".

Last June, Hagar made headlines for an interview in which he said that he was willing to sacrifice himself to COVID-19 if it means saving the economy. At the time, Hagar was one of several musicians interviewed by Rolling Stone about staying at home instead of touring while coping with the uncertainties of the pandemic.

"I'm going to make a radical statement here. This is hard to say without stirring somebody up, but truthfully, I'd rather personally get sick and even die, if that's what it takes," Hagar began.

"We have to save the world and this country from this economic thing that's going to kill more people in the long run. I would rather see everyone go back to work. If some of us have to sacrifice on that, okay."

Hagar suggested that if the cost of human lives is necessary for the economy to fully recover, he was willing to die from the coronavirus. "I will die for my children and my grandchildren to have a life anywhere close to the life that I had in this wonderful country. That's just the way that I feel about it," he continued. "I'm not going to go around spreading the disease. But there may be a time where we have to sacrifice. I mean, how many people die on the Earth every day? I have no idea. I'm sorry to say it, but we all gotta die, man."

Sammy also said that he would be willing to play live concerts in packed venues "before there's a vaccine, if it's declining and seems to be going away."

After the Rolling Stone article was published, Hagar released a statement in which he revealed that the interview was done a month and a half earlier and insisted that he will do his part in "getting back to work in a safe and responsible way and getting this economy rolling again."

Sammy said: "I did that interview when we were already several weeks into the stay-at-home, which my family and I took very seriously, and things were starting to look up, the curve was beginning flattening. So when I was asked if I'd be comfortable enough to get back onstage before a vaccine was out, I was cautiously optimistic. I said, 'Yeah, not too soon. I want to make sure it's not escalating. When it's declining and seems to be going away.'

"Big picture, it's about getting back to work in a safe and responsible way and getting this economy rolling again. I will do my part. I stand by that. I employ 200 people directly and when we tour even more. Like everything today, it's a watch and see over the next few months but we remain cautiously optimistic that with the right improvements and safety measures in place, we might be able to play shows. That said, as things change, for the better or worse, we will appropriately adjust our plans."

Last year, SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE's U.S. tour with NIGHT RANGER was officially canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe.

Joining Hagar in THE CIRCLE are bassist Michael Anthony (VAN HALEN, CHICKENFOOT), drummer Jason Bonham (BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EVENING) and guitarist Vic Johnson (THE WABORITAS).

THE CIRCLE's first album of all-original material, "Space Between", was released in May 2019 via BMG.
























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Newly-formed death metal band, Inhuman Condition, has announced their guests that will appear on their anticipated debut album.

The trio, which features Terry Butler (Obituary, ex-Death/Massacre/Six Feet Under), Jeramie Kling (Venom Inc., The Absence, Goregäng), and Taylor Nordberg (The Absence, Goregäng) have moved into the post-production phase at Kling and Nordberg’s Smoke & Mirrors Productions in Spring Hill, Florida. Drummer and lyricist Paul Mazurkiewicz (Cannibal Corpse) is featured as a lyricist for two of the band’s songs, while whammy-shenanigan master and former Massacre/Death guitarist Rick Rozz supplies guest guitar solos for three songs.  

About the album, Kling said: “We have all 14 songs finished up, but not all of them will end up on the first album, so we’ll have the track-listing and other album info announced soon.  We decided to get Paul (Mazurkiewicz) involved in some of the lyric-writing for the album, which was a blast because he’s such a great lyricist.  We had been chatting with Rick (Rozz) after we split with Massacre last fall and one thing led to another and he ended up coming over and laying down some sweet leads on a few of the songs.”

Mazurkiewicz said: “It’s been a privilege and a pleasure contributing lyrics for Inhuman Condition. Taylor, Jeramie and Terry have created some killer music and skulls are going to be crushed!"

Rozz added: “This was an honor, and very flattering to be invited to do some whammy shenanigans over three killer tunes with the two great musicians that put this together.  Wishing the band all the best, until the end.  Cheers & Peace.”

A few weeks ago, the band released a teaser video with a demo of a new song which can be viewed below.  

Inhuman Condition is:

Terry Butler - bass
Jeramie Kling - drums/vocals
Taylor Nordberg - guitar




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Tom Hamilton received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine earlier today (Thursday, March 11).

The 69-year-old AEROSMITH bassist took to his Instagram to share that he got the final dose of the vaccine. He wrote in a caption: "Moderna #2! I'm invincible!"

A new poll from the Pew Research Center showed that more than two-thirds of U.S. adults plan on getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

The poll, released last Friday, found that 69 percent of adults say they are going to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

The Pew poll showed that 19% of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, 32% say they will definitely get the vaccine and 17% say they will probably get it.

The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has estimated that about 70-85% of Americans would need to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity.

America's two main vaccines have shown 95% efficacy against the coronavirus.

As of late January, the CDC discovered that only 11 per 1 million people experienced severe reactions from the Pfizer vaccine, and only 2.5 per 1 million people who received the Moderna dose.

Johnson & Johnson's vaccine, which became available in the United States earlier this month after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave it emergency use authorization, was tested with new variants of COVID-19, and has shown to be effective against them; Pfizer and Moderna were tested prior to the emergence of these variants.
























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LAST IN LINE drummer Vinny Appice spoke to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's third album. The follow-up to 2019's "II" is tentatively due next year via an as-yet-undisclosed record label.

"We got half the album pretty much done," Vinny said. "We're a band that has to be in a room together [to write music], so it's hard to send files back and forth to create something now. But we're doing that — we've got a cover song in mind that we're working on. And then we'll together soon and finish the rest of the record. And we're going for a new label as well — we've got a label that's [interested in releasing the album]… It looks like it's gonna happen. And then we've got some dates coming up."

Referring to the fact that LAST IN LINE features DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell, Vinny said: "We're waiting to see what DEF LEPPARD's schedule is. We don't know what's going on yet exactly with the big stadium tour; we don't know what they're going to do this year, since we usually play in between Viv's schedule with DEF LEPPARD. So we'll wait and see. But we have dates in October so far, and then if we open up, we'll do something maybe in the summer. Who knows? We'll have to wait and see."

Last month, Appice told Metal From The Inside that former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson, who produced both "II" and 2016's "Heavy Crown", is not involved with the upcoming LAST IN LINE album. "We made a change," he said. "Actually, the guy who mixed the last record, Chris Collier — he's great; he's working with KORN — he recorded this record. And we're kind of producing it ourselves, between all of us.

"Jeff is great — Jeff's a great producer, and [he has] great ideas and stuff, but we just felt that we could probably do what we wanna do now that we're a band, we've been on the road, and we know what we wanna hear," he explained. "But it's coming out great. The stuff sounds fantastic.

"And yeah, I've been through a lot with Jeff Pilson. I've known him for years. He's a great guy. He's like my brother."

Also in February, LAST IN LINE bassist Soussan told the "Pat's Soundbytes Unplugged" podcast that the band was working on "a very, very special song that we're gonna be putting out fairly soon. I can't tell you any more than that, but it is something in the interim between us coming out with a new album, or releasing a new album, and now," he said. "So we'll do this as a video single."

As for the musical direction of the new LAST IN LINE material, Phil said: "The songs are another progression from the last album — the difference between 'Heavy Crown' and 'II', and now 'II' and whatever this next album is gonna be called; we don't know yet, by the way. But it's definitely evolved even more; it's gone into even more of an evolution, but we are always trying to keep the characteristics of LAST IN LINE there. I mean, you can't shake those things — you can't shake Vinny's drumming, you can't shake Vivian's playing. And I'd like to say the same thing about myself, and, of course, Andrew."

Some of the early recording sessions for LAST IN LINE's third album took place in January 2020 at Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood, California.

Formed in 2012 by Appice, Campbell and bassist Jimmy Bain — Ronnie James Dio's co-conspirators and co-writers on the "Holy Diver", "Last In Line" and "Sacred Heart" albums — LAST IN LINE's initial intent was to celebrate Ronnie James Dio's early work by reuniting the members of the original DIO lineup. After playing shows that featured a setlist composed exclusively of material from the first three DIO albums, the band decided to move forward and create new music in a similar vein.

LAST IN LINE's debut album, "Heavy Crown", was released in February 2016, landing at No. 1 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. Initially, the release had been preceded by tragedy when Bain unexpectedly passed away at the age of 68 on January 23, 2016. LAST IN LINE, honoring what they knew would be Bain's wish to keep the band moving, brought in Soussan and committed to sustained touring in support of the album before beginning work on the follow-up release, the aforementioned "II"

Hi fans!
It's a long time that you haven't heard from me but I can assure you that since 2 years I'm working on the new album. There were some unintentionally breaks and for sure Corona was also a reason why it took so long. But I can tell you that 5 songs are mixed and another 5 songs will be ready next week. The cover is already done and besides some pirate songs on the album this time the musketeers will be a dominant theme on this album. The release date will be in the summer and I can't wait for you to hear these new songs which I think are the best I've ever written. Stay tuned for more news coming within the next few weeks....'til then...stay healthy and set sails for the things to come!

Simone Simons of Dutch symphonic metallers EPICA was recently interviewed by Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio. You can now listen to the chat below.

Asked how the metal world has changed in terms of its acceptance of women in metal from when she started out in EPICA to now, Simone said: "I guess women in the scene are more prominent, and, I guess, also maybe more respected or accepted for the fact that we have talent and can work hard and can succeed. I guess that women are still the minority in the whole metal scene, but it's developing in the right direction, I would say. Back in the day, we had the term 'female-fronted metal,' and that is nowhere near accurate at the moment, because it does not describe the sound of the band other than there's a female singer in the band. I, myself, am lucky enough to not have had any really big negative experiences to talk about. And I'm one of the guys; that's how I always felt, I guess — with the exception of some females things. [Laughs] And I feel well being surrounded by a lot of guys; I never felt misunderstood or disrespected."

Regarding whether there is pressure on women to physically look a certain way to make it in music, Simone said: "Well, I guess, in a certain way, the appearance is important, not just for the women, but also for the guys. I mean, don't we all want to look our best? Don't we put a lot of effort in making the live show visually appealing? But there is, of course, more pressure on the women to always look good and be in the best shape. And people create this image of you that you're perfect, and you're not, and it's sometimes tedious to keep up that appearance. With guys, it's easier for them; they can just roll out of bed and look like crap and nobody gives a shit. And [when you are a woman,] if you have a bad day or a huge zit, everybody is pointing at it. But, yeah, that's how it's always been. That's just a thing you've gotta fight. And I know some of my female colleagues — I respect them enormously — they posted photos without any makeup on, and I think that is a great thing to do, to show everybody that we are normal as well. I post makeup videos, and people see me without makeup as well. And I guess I don't mind as much as I did in the past. It comes with age, I guess, that you start to feel more comfortable. When you're in your younger years, when your skin and everything is nice and tight, you are actually the most insecure; you don't value or acknowledge that you're young and that it has a lot of advantages and that it's a beautiful thing to be young. But, yeah, that insecurity, I guess, gets to all of us."

EPICA's latest album, "Omega", was released on February 26 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2016's "The Holographic Principle" was once again produced by Joost Van Den Broek (POWERWOLF, AYREON) in part at Sandlane Recording Facilities in Rijen, Netherlands.

Image courtesy of FaceCulture

The reunited expanded classic lineup of German power metallers HELLOWEEN will release its new, self-titled album on June 18 via Nuclear Blast. The disc's first single, "Skyfall", will arrive on April 2.

The "Pumpkins United" lineup features returning singer Michael Kiske and guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen alongside current singer Andi Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble.

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

Said Löble: "This record is the coronation of the 'Pumpkins United' journey. I have always been fascinated by the different character traits and facets of HELLOWEEN's history. For example, the legendary voices of Michi, Andi and Kai. To enjoy them now together on one record, under one flag, is the ultimate HELLOWEEN experience."

"Skyfall" begins with a bang. The epic track describes an alien landing on earth and a dramatic chase, while Kiske, Deris and Hansen duel with each other in a truly breathtaking manner. Produced by Martin Häusler, it is the most elaborate video clip in the history of the band. Portrayed via truly cinematic 3-D animation, this clip is a real high-end experience.

Bauerfeind said: "After 30 years with different lineups of the band, I really thought I was well prepared for another extreme challenge, but I was wrong. My expectations were highly exceeded in every way with this super-sized package of creativity."

Musical dexterity aside, it is also the immense passion of the band that defines HELLOWEEN. Weikath describes it thusly: "It is the incomprehensible encounter of seven musicians who are working as friends and even family who have created something that no one would have thought could be possible. It is like awaking from a sleep but still being in an incredible dream."

Hansen reflects: "Being in the studio with my old companions after 30 years away was very emotional for me. But at the same time, it was a completely different experience with the 'new' boys. The collaboration of different songwriters, each of them strong characters in their own right, has made the album very special. A unique mix which draws from all chapters of the band's history.

"HELLOWEEN is a big part of my life and I am looking forward to celebrating the songs live for and with our fans!"

Grosskopf agrees: "For me, being one of the last 'survivors' who played every note from the beginning, it was a fantastic experience and a very emotional process. I think everyone can hear it on this album. I love it."

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

The album pre-order will kick off on March 26.

Track listing:

01. Out For The Glory

02. Fear Of The Fallen

03. Best Time

04. Mass Pollution

05. Angels

06. Rise Without Chains

07. Indestructible

08. Robot King

09. Cyanide

10. Down In The Dumps

11. Orbit

12. Skyfall

"Skyfall" will be available on CD, digitally and in two different vinyl versions.

Single 1: Vinyl, CD, digital:

"Skyfall" (single edit) + "Skyfall" (exclusive alternative vocals mix). Both are exclusive single versions and will not be on the album. Around 20 minutes playing time.

Single 2: Vinyl only

"Skyfall" (single edit) + "Indestructible" (exclusive album track). This is a strictly limited version of the new single with one exclusive album track.

The "Pumpkins United" tour marked the first time Kiske had played live with HELLOWEEN since 1993. Hansen, who departed HELLOWEEN in 1988, had been joining the band onstage on various tours and festival appearances throughout the years. The set featured several duets with Kiske and his replacement, Deris, along with many rarely played songs, including "Kids Of The Century", "Rise And Fall" and "Livin' Ain't No Crime". Hansen — who fronted HELLOWEEN until late 1986 — sang a medley of several early HELLOWEEN classics, including "Ride The Sky", "Judas", "Starlight" and "Heavy Metal (Is The Law)".

HELLOWEEN's European "United Alive World Tour Part II", which was originally scheduled to take place in September and October will now take place next year.

The "Pumpkins United" lineup of HELLOWEEN already released one new song — aptly titled "Pumpkins United" — in October 2017.

The attorneys for ICED EARTH's Jon Schaffer have filed a motion to dismiss the charges against the guitarist for his involvement in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Court documents filed by Schaffer's attorneys on March 9 — and obtained by BLABBERMOUTH.NET — request that he be released immediately under the claim that the government has violated the Speedy Trial Act, which establishes maximum time periods for different stages of a federal criminal prosecution. Since the Speedy Trial Act required the government to file an information or an indictment within 30 days of Schaffer's arrest, the "complaint must be dismissed," they wrote.

Schaffer is still awaiting extradition extradition to Washington D.C., nearly seven weeks after U.S. Magistrate for the Southern District of Indiana judge Mark Dinsmore signed an order for the ICED EARTH guitarist to appear in D.C.'s district court. Schaffer is being held by the U.S. Marshal Service at the Marion County Jail.

The 52-year-old musician, who resides in in Edinburgh, Indiana, is facing six federal criminal charges after he was accused of spraying a police officer with a pepper-based bear repellant during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

According to Politico, the D.C.-based team of federal prosecutors has been stretched thin as the Justice Department and courts are trying to prosecute and process hundreds of people accused of storming the Capitol more than two months ago. While in all of last year, the D.C. federal court recorded 290 cases in its criminal docket for major crimes, so far this year, 199 such cases have already been filed, nearly all of them against alleged Capitol rioters.

Schaffer waived his preliminary hearing as well as his rights to an identity hearing and production of a warrant seven weeks ago in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, court documents state. He was supposed to be transported by a United States marshal to Washington, D.C. where government lawyers and Schaffer's legal team have mutually agreed to handle all proceedings.

Schaffer is entitled to a hearing on the issue of pretrial detention upon his arrival in D.C., court documents said.

Seven weeks ago, government lawyers asked the judge to not offer Schaffer a bond when he goes in front of U.S. magistrate.

Schaffer must prove to the federal magistrate that he is not a threat to himself or the public before being released on bail. Others who have been charged for insurrection at the Capitol have been given bail but ordered to surrender their firearms, avoid contact with other alleged Capitol rioters and stay away from all state capitol buildings. Some other alleged rioters have been prohibited from using social media and participating in any political rallies.

Last month, a man resembling Schaffer was seen in newly released security footage from the U.S. Capitol riot that the House impeachment managers obtained and submitted as evidence for former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial. The clip in question, which was released by CNN on February 15, shows rioters charging through a breached entrance and engaging and pushing officers. Schaffer can be seen near the front of the mob, wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, a tactical vest and black leather fingerless tactical gloves, and pointing his finger while yelling at the officers.

Schaffer was photographed wearing an "Oath Keepers Lifetime Member" cap during the insurrection. The Oath Keepers describe themselves as an association of former law enforcement and military personnel dedicated to "support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic." But the Anti-Defamation League describes it as "a large but loosely organized collection of right-wing anti-government extremists who are part of the militia movement, which believes that the federal government has been coopted by a shadowy conspiracy that is trying to strip American citizens of their rights."

Schaffer has been held in the Marion County Jail since surrendering to police on January 17. He made his first court appearance the following day.

Just hours after the insurrection, ICED EARTH fans recognized Schaffer in a photo released by federal investigators.

Schaffer is believed to be one of at least 400 people who are being investigated by FBI officials over their roles in the insurrection.

More than 250 criminal cases have been filed so far. Charges include unauthorized access, theft, damage to government property and assault on law enforcement officers.

Geezer Butler has clarified a recent comment he made about his DEADLAND RITUAL bandmate Steve Stevens.

On Monday (March 8), Butler was a guest on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", where he discussed the status of the supergroup he started a few years ago with Stevens (BILLY IDOL, VINCE NEIL), drummer Matt Sorum (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER) and singer Franky Perez (APOCALYPTICA).

"DEADLAND RITUAL's dead," the BLACK SABBATH bassist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "The virus put the final nail in the coffin. We had 12 or 13 songs written. We were about to go into the studio last March, and everything closed down. Matt left the band. And Steve has got, I think, a lung condition or something, so he couldn't leave the house 'cause of the virus. And we just didn't revive it. You never know — we might do it next year or something. I don't know."

A few hours after BLABBERMOUTH.NET published Geezer's comments, he took to his Twitter to write: "I would like to clarify a recent interview remark I made, concerning DEADLAND RITUAL, and Steve Stevens. I was referring to the start of the pandemic, how it stopped us from going into the studio to record. I said Steve wouldn't leave his house because of a lung condition."

He continued: "I was told Steve had a respiratory problem & didn't want to risk getting Covid. I totally agreed. Anyway, I want you all to know that Steve is up and about and has no 'lung condition'. In fact he played at this past Super Bowl. #lockdown #COVID19 @Stevestevens #clarification".

DEADLAND RITUAL released two songs, "Down In Flames" and "Broken And Bruised" in late 2018 and early 2019. Both tracks, which were produced by Greg Fidelman (METALLICA, SLIPKNOT), were made available via Sonik Riot Records/AWAL powered by Kobalt.

For its live performances, DEADLAND RITUAL's setlist consisted of several original tracks alongside classic songs from the members' previous bands, including BLACK SABBATH's "Symptom Of The Universe", "Neon Knights" and "Sweet Leaf", VELVET REVOLVER's "Slither" and BILLY IDOL's "Rebel Yell".

Geezer previously said that he initially had no plans to join another band after SABBATH completed its "The End" farewell tour.

"Well, I retired after the last SABBATH show," he said. "I just traveled and did everything that I wanted to do when I was retired for a year. And then I got fed up watching the TV every day. And I started writing stuff again, 'cause that's what you do. I've been doing it for 50 years, so it's in your blood. You can't just stop, especially when it's your hobby as well. And I just got back into writing stuff. I was planning on doing another solo album, a GZR thing. And I got a few songs together for that. And then Matt got in touch with me about DEADLAND RITUAL."

Asked what appealed to him about being in a band again, Geezer said: "It's what I've known since I started when I was 16; I was in a band. When you're doing solo stuff, it's just you writing stuff. There's nobody to bounce off, and I really missed that. It's good to have people saying, 'That's good. That'll work.' Or, 'That's not so good.' And I missed having that. The guitarist that I worked with in GZR, he's just moved to the East Coast and he's got other things on his plate at the moment. With DEADLAND RITUAL, everybody's local, so it's easy to get together. And you don't have to plan months in advance to do an album or write songs. If I feel like writing a song today, I call up Steve, go around to Steve's house, and we try something."

DEADLAND RITUAL made its live debut in May 2019 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California.




I would like to clarify a recent interview remark I made, concerning Dealand Ritual, and Steve Stevens. I was referring to the start of the pandemic, how it stopped us from going into the studio to record. I said Steve wouldn’t leave his house because of a lung condition.

— Geezer Butler (@geezerbutler) March 11, 2021








I was told Steve had a respiratory problem & didn’t want to risk getting Covid. I totally agreed. Anyway, I want you all to know that Steve is up and about and has no “lung condition”. In fact he played at this past Super Bowl. #lockdown #COVID19 @Stevestevens #clarification

— Geezer Butler (@geezerbutler) March 11, 2021

Original ENTOMBED members Alex Hellid (guitar), Uffe Cederlund (guitar) and Nicke Andersson (drums) have released a statement about the recent passing of Lars-Göran "LG" Petrov. The pioneering ENTOMBED and ENTOMBED A.D. singer died on Sunday, March 7 after a battle with bile duct cancer. He was 49 years old.

Hellid, Cederlund and Andersson wrote: "All the years, all the toil, all the dreams, the struggle, the rewards, the humor, the laughter, and the tears. It's been a long damn journey and the memories are many and fantastic. Everything we've experienced and laughed at together, the big and the small, from being teenage kids to almost growing up. Your now legendary and unique sayings, your 'LGisms', must surely one day find their way into the dictionary. How can you argue against 'Pizza was invented in the late '70s by Turkish people in Bredäng (Sweden)'!

"Our thoughts go to your family, and your wider other family — your many friends all around the world. Through everyone you've touched, you live on. We will forever miss you, a member of our family, and we will always keep the good memories with us.

"Rest in peace LG".

Hellid and Petrov had been embroiled in a legal battle over the ENTOMBED name for several years. In 2014, Petrov was reportedly awarded the right to use the band name in connection with future recording and touring activities, a decision which Hellid appealed without success. The guitarist then went on to register a trademark for spirits production under the "Entombed" name. This move did not sit well with Hellid's former bandmate, who filed a letter of protest against Alex's registration of the name, claiming that it could be confused with band activities. He also said that Hellid acted in "bad faith" when he registered name and that there was a desire to "deceive the public." Petrov's protest, however, found no favor with the Swedish Patent And Registration Office, which rejected his claims on the issue in a March 2016 ruling.

In an interview with Revolution-Music.dk, Petrov defended his group's decision to release albums and tour under the name ENTOMBED A.D. in order to avoid a legal battle with Hellid who didn't want his former bandmates to use the ENTOMBED moniker: "It had to be done, because without an album you can't tour," he explained. "I mean, you can tour, but if there's seven years between albums, it's ridiculously long. So we did the right thing, and we did what bands should do, and still do — release an album and go on tour and headbang and have a good time with friends, and that's what it's all about."

He continued: "There was too much bullshit — crying and whining about things. It's just ridiculous.

"Some people are comfortable staying at home, but then just step aside and let us do our thing.

"We added two letters, but it's still the same band — [only] without people that wanna stay at home, or take millions of years [coming up with] a [new] riff."

Asked if he thinks the ENTOMBED name has been damaged as a result of the drama surrounding the split with Hellid and the decision to continue as ENTOMBED A.D., Petrov said: "Nah, not really. A thousand people have a thousand different opinions — good and bad. But we do what we felt was right. And we're out here touring, and that's the most important [thing], I think. And leave the childishness aside and play metal, basically."

A completely different version of ENTOMBED — featuring Hellid, Cederlund and Andersson — played the band's groundbreaking 1991 album, "Clandestine", in its entirety at Malmö Live in Malmö, Sweden in November 2016. Joining them at the show were Robert Andersson (vocals) and Nicke's half brother Edvin Aftonfalk (bass), both formerly of the Swedish death metal band MORBUS CHRON. Two weeks earlier, the most recent Hellid-led lineup of ENTOMBED made its live debut on the Close-Up Båten cruise.

ENTOMBED A.D.'s latest album, "Bowels Of Earth", was released in August 2019 via Century Media.


All the years, all the toil, all the dreams, the struggle, the rewards, the humor, the laughter, and the tears. It's...

Posted by Entombed Clandestine on Thursday, March 11, 2021

Former FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH drummer Jeremy Spencer spoke to "Drag The Waters: The Pantera Podcast" about his decision to remove all the previously released music and videos from his PSYCHOSEXUAL project ahead of the arrival of its new single, "Devil From Hell", at the end of the month.

"When you make records, they're like snapshots in time," Jeremy explained (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "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.

Geezer Butler has confirmed to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that DEADLAND RITUAL, the band he started a few years ago with guitarist Steve Stevens (BILLY IDOL, VINCE NEIL), drummer Matt Sorum (GUNS N' ROSES, VELVET REVOLVER) and singer Franky Perez (APOCALYPTICA) likely won't get resurrected once life resumes post-pandemic.

"DEADLAND RITUAL's dead," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET. "The virus put the final nail in the coffin. We had 12 or 13 songs written. We were about to go into the studio last March, and everything closed down. Matt left the band. And Steve has got, I think, a lung condition or something, so he couldn't leave the house 'cause of the virus. And we just didn't revive it. You never know — we might do it next year or something. I don't know."

As for whether he plans on pursuing any other music projects in the coming months, Geezer said: "I still play — write riffs and stuff. It's part of my life. But nothing definite. I've got so many ideas and stuff written, I've just gotta find the time to sit down and go through them all."

DEADLAND RITUAL released two songs, "Down In Flames" and "Broken And Bruised" in late 2018 and early 2019. Both tracks, which were produced by Greg Fidelman (METALLICA, SLIPKNOT), were made available via Sonik Riot Records/AWAL powered by Kobalt.

For its live performances, DEADLAND RITUAL's setlist consisted of several original tracks alongside classic songs from the members' previous bands, including BLACK SABBATH's "Symptom Of The Universe", "Neon Knights" and "Sweet Leaf", VELVET REVOLVER's "Slither" and BILLY IDOL's "Rebel Yell".

Geezer previously said that he initially had no plans to join another band after SABBATH completed its "The End" farewell tour.

"Well, I retired after the last SABBATH show," he said. "I just traveled and did everything that I wanted to do when I was retired for a year. And then I got fed up watching the TV every day. And I started writing stuff again, 'cause that's what you do. I've been doing it for 50 years, so it's in your blood. You can't just stop, especially when it's your hobby as well. And I just got back into writing stuff. I was planning on doing another solo album, a GZR thing. And I got a few songs together for that. And then Matt got in touch with me about DEADLAND RITUAL."

Asked what appealed to him about being in a band again, Geezer said: "It's what I've known since I started when I was 16; I was in a band. When you're doing solo stuff, it's just you writing stuff. There's nobody to bounce off, and I really missed that. It's good to have people saying, 'That's good. That'll work.' Or, 'That's not so good.' And I missed having that. The guitarist that I worked with in GZR, he's just moved to the East Coast and he's got other things on his plate at the moment. With DEADLAND RITUAL, everybody's local, so it's easy to get together. And you don't have to plan months in advance to do an album or write songs. If I feel like writing a song today, I call up Steve, go around to Steve's house, and we try something."

DEADLAND RITUAL made its live debut in May 2019 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood, California.

PRETTY MAIDS singer Ronnie Atkins, who is battling stage four cancer, spoke about his condition during a recent interview with Finland's Kaaos TV. Reflecting on how he first got diagnosed with the disease. Ronnie said (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I had some symptoms. I had some pain issues in my back — in my shoulder. But I had that for 15, 20 years, so to begin with, I just thought I struck a nerve or something like that. And I went over to the doctor, and he checked me. And he actually thought that as well. But my mother died in 1988 when I was 22 years old, and she had the same kind of symptoms, and I just had a bad gut feeling. And I said to him, 'I think you should send me down for some X-rays and stuff, just to be sure.' And he said, 'Well, let's do that, just to make sure there is nothing wrong.' A couple of hours later, I had a phone call from him that they actually found something — found a spot in the top of my lungs. And then I went through a whole process with CT scans, PET scans and bronchoscopies. And they took biopsies to find out what kind of cancer it was — if it was cancer. And long story short, it was cancer."

He continued: "I had surgery in September 2019. And then I waited five or six weeks, then I had to go through chemotherapy for three months and radiation therapy; I had 33, all in all. So, yeah, I was basically not capable of doing much at the time being. I didn't get really sick from the chemo, but I had pain issues from the surgery, so I was on morphine for quite a while and I was just tired. And then in February [2020], after the first scans, they said, 'Everything looks good, and we think you may be cured. But, of course, you have to go to control for the next five years.' And only six weeks after, when I went to a control, they found that my cancer spread to the bones, to one of my ribs. And that's when it got really serious, because then it was diagnosed as stage four, 'cause it spread outside the area where it actually started. And that's when I panicked for a while, because I wasn't prepared for that. I mean, I wasn't naïve — I, of course, knew that eventually [the cancer] may return, but not that fast. And that surprised the doctors as well. And that's what I've been living with ever since that. And I got another five radiation therapies — stereotactic radiation — and that kind of killed the metastases that set in the rib. And since that, I've had immunotherapy, and actually, I've been doing pretty good since that."

Atkins admitted that being told he had stage four cancer was "mentally hard to cope with" and it took him "quite a while" to accept the diagnosis. "But I'm still here, man, one year after, 'cause that was just after the lockdown started [when I was told I had stage four cancer]," he said. "And I'm still feeling good. And I've just been checked again, and it still looks good. I've just gotta be positive."

Asked if it's still possible shrink the cancer or put it in remission, Ronnie said: "Not really. I'm [in] what they call life-prolonging treatment. When they call it stage four, it's, in principle, incurable. Most people die within a year — that's what the statistics say. But there's three or four percent that are still alive after five years. I've just gotta believe in a miracle. I've just gotta hope that I'm one of those three or four [percent]. So, that's where it's at."

After the 56-year-old Atkins was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019, he underwent at least 33 radiation and four chemotherapy treatments in the fall of that year before being declared cancer-free. In October 2020, he announced that his cancer had returned.

Atkins's new solo album, "One Shot", will be released on March 12 via Frontiers Music Srl. Ronnie put the songs together with good friend and PRETTY MAIDS bandmate and producer Chris Laney. Chris oversaw production, Jacob Hansen mixed, and musicians/singers appearing on the album include, in addition to Laney, Allan Sørensen, Morten Sandager, Pontus Egberg, Pontus Norgren, Kee Marcello, Olliver Hartmann, John Berg, Anders Ringman, Linnea Vikström Egg and Björn Strid.

In a 2013 interview with Myglobalmind, Atkins joked that the secret to keeping his voice in shape was "twenty cigarettes a day and little drink now and then."