VIXEN bassist Share Ross spoke to Metal-Net about how she and her bandmates have been trying to stay creative during the coronavirus pandemic. She said (see video below): "It's been challenging during the quarantine, because we actually ended up in four different cities. So, it's pretty hard to get together with anybody. Britt [Lightning, a.k.a. Brittany Denaro; guitar] and I had done some stuff together, and then me, Britt and Roxy [Petrucci, drums] had done some stuff together in studios. And then we did a lot of stuff with the four of us, just getting into a room and just record all these crazy ideas that we come up with. So we've just tried to do a lot of different things. Even at soundchecks, we would just jam out ideas and stuff — 'Yeah, whatever. Record us. We don't care.'

"We really love spontaneity — when you're not trying to write a song," the musician, who lives in Boynton Beach, Florida, explained. "And there's something to be said for being in the room together.

"I would say that the whole COVID-19 thing, it made it a little bit challenging to feel creative for a lot of time. Initially, there was the, 'Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. What's going on?' And then I actually had COVID-19, and Bam [Share's husband] had to nurse me back to health. I was down — I was totally down. I couldn't breathe for about three days, and then I stayed in bed for a month. So that happened. And then there was sort of a panic about, 'Oh my gosh. How are we gonna keep paying the bills?' So I think there was a scramble from everybody — everybody in our band.

"We don't all live off — there's not some massive VIXEN royalties or anything going out," Share added. "So it's really, like, 'Okay, I've gotta deal with my day-to-day. What are we gonna do?' So there was a little bit of panic for a while. Fortunately, that's lifted, and everybody's got things going on again now, so that's good.

"But, yeah, when you're panicking about eating, it's hard to feel creative, I think. So we didn't do a whole lot of back and forth — a little bit here and there, but not as much as I've seen other bands do. And I'm very impressed by that — I'm, like, 'Wow! That's amazing that they can do that.'

"Personally, I just do better when I'm in a room with somebody. That's just the thing for me. I like to feed off of the person — I really like that feeling."

In January 2019, VIXEN recruited Lorraine Lewis as its new lead singer following the departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis had already performed with VIXEN in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery.

Prior to Lewis's addition to VIXEN, Petrucci, Ross and Denaro vowed to "expand upon the VIXEN legacy while remaining true to our musical roots."

Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN's classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.

Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN's most commercially successful studio albums — "Vixen" (1988), "Rev It Up" (1990) and "Tangerine" (1998) — as well as the group's latest release, 2018's live album "Live Fire".

In a brand new interview with RockSverige, Wendy Dio, widow and longtime manager of Ronnie James Dio, offered an update on the long-awaited autobiography of the heavy metal master, which was partially written before the singer's death and which was originally scheduled to be published several years ago via MTV Books.

She said: "I have the book, Ronnie's autobiography, finally finished with [rock journalist] Mick Wall, and I think it's coming out on Ronnie's birthday July 10th. Ronnie had written half of it, and Mick Wall and I got together and found lots of interviews, so I wanted it to still be in Ronnie's voice. I'm very pleased with that."

Wendy also talked about the upcoming career-spanning documentary on the life and times of the legendary rock icon. It is the first documentary about Dio to be fully authorized by the artist's estate. BMG is both financier and executive producer of the film.

"It's probably coming out next year," she said. "We've been working on that, and then it had to stop for a little bit because of them having to go to Europe to interview more people, and because of the travel bans [due to the coronavirus pandemic], they haven't been able to do that. Hopefully it will come out in 2022."

According to Wendy, the documentary will cover "everything" from his childhood and early days with ELF to his final project, HEAVEN & HELL.

"We've been working on this for a couple of years," she said. "I'm not supposed to talk about it because they said they don't want me to blow everything now and then there won't be anything to talk about when it comes out. [Laughs]"

Ronnie James Dio passed away of stomach cancer on May 16, 2010 at the age of 67. A few months after his death, MTV Books announced plans to release his memoir, which at the time was going to be called "Rainbow In The Dark: The Autobiography Of Ronnie James Dio".

"Everything Ronnie did, lyrics or anything, was always handwritten," Wendy told VH1 Classic Rock Nights back in 2010. "He didn't do anything on the computer. So he would handwrite it and then he'd give it to me and then I'd give it to my assistant, she'd type it up. So that's how it went and, of course, I'd read it along the way and it's very, very interesting. It's just interesting the way his stories are; he was a storyteller. Ronnie was always a storyteller and it's just great stories."

Dio was renowned throughout the world as one of the greatest and most influential vocalists in heavy metal history. The singer, who was recording and touring with BLACK SABBATH offshoot HEAVEN & HELL prior to his illness, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in late 2009. He underwent chemotherapy and made what is now his final public appearance in April 2010 at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Ange

German power metal institution, Orden Ogan, will release their new album, Final Days, on March 12th, 2021 via AFM Records. They have revealed the complete tracklist for the album, which is available below. The record features guest appearances by Firewind guitarist Gus G. and Brothers Of Metal vocalist Ylva Eriksson.

Tracklist:

"Heart Of The Android"
"In The Dawn Of The AI"
"Inferno"
"Let The Fire Rain"
"Interstellar" (featuring Gus G.)
"Alone in The Dark" (featuring Ylva Eriksson)
"Hollow"
"It Is Over"

Where to go from the Wild West? Singer and producer Sebastian "Seeb" Levermann explains:

"Final Days is a dark-science-fiction-concept-record and it features all Orden Ogan trademarks such as fat and modern riffs, epic chorusses and melancholic orchestral arrangements. On this record you will find the best songs that we have ever written. Gunmen was a strong and important record for us, but Final Days takes it to the next level."

QUEENSRŸCHE frontman Todd La Torre has told Rock Titan TV that he no longer subscribes to the notion that once musicians hit a certain age, their chances of reaching commercial success lessen.

"That was always my opinion," Todd said (see video below). "When I reached my late 20s or 30, I was, like, 'Okay, it's never gonna happen for me.' And then I joined CRIMSON GLORY and started to get notoriety mostly in Europe. But you know what? I think that's all bullshit. I think that this is a genre that doesn't really care. It's not like pop where your prime window is this. Or if you're a football player, unless you're Jerry Rice or somebody that can play really long at your career, it doesn't matter, your age. It's all really about just the songs and the music. There are a lot of people that get discovered in their 30s [or] 40s, whatever. Whether they join an established band and that's their big springboard or sometimes they write a killer song."

The 46-year-old singer, who resides in St. Petersburg, Florida, added: "There's plenty of bands that end up, quote, making it — whatever that even means anymore — later in life, so I think for those people that feel discouraged, like it's never gonna happen, I certainly understand that and I empathize with that position, but I wouldn't say that that's certainly absolute by any means, and my story is an example of that."

Todd will release his debut solo album, "Rejoice In The Suffering", on February 5 via Rat Pak Records. He created the LP with his songwriting partner Craig Blackwell and producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris.

La Torre joined his first band BLACKWELL as the drummer, performing in high school talent shows and entering into the club rock music scene in Tampa Bay, Florida. In 2009, Todd was suggested to CRIMSON GLORY guitarist Jon Drenning by a mutual friend to help with some vocal rehearsals in preparation for a CRIMSON GLORY memorial concert. This would pave the way for more collaborations with the band, eventually joining as the band’s new permanent vocalist. La Torre was the lead singer for CRIMSON GLORY from late 2010 until resigned from the band in early 2013. In 2012, Todd became a household name in the metal world when he officially became the new lead vocalist of QUEENSRŸCHE. The band immediately began touring globally and started writing new material for the self-titled 2013 album "Queensrÿche". To date, QUEENSRŸCHE has released three studio albums with La Torre: "Queensrÿche", "Condition Hüman" (2015) and "The Verdict" (2019). Currently the band is writing new material for a fourth release for Century Media Records.

British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 20 years ago, spoke to Rocking With Jam Man about when fans can expect to see him return to playing live concerts. He said (see video below): "That is an unknown. What's happening right now is something — it's the first time that this has ever happened in the history of the world, as far as we know it," referring to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe. "So we don't know the future; we can't judge it from the past. So I don't know.

'Some people say when things get back to normal, there will be a new normal," he continued. "I don't think we'll ever go back to the way things were. And people of my generation will look back and feel truly lucky that we were able to experience that."

Asked what he thinks touring will look like post-pandemic, Blaze said: "Nobody can say. I don't know what it will be like. I don't even know if it will start. The future is unknown. What we have to do is listen to what the World Health Organization say, because in March of last year, the World Health Organization said in a statement if anybody thinks we're gonna have live concerts and performances this year, they're dreaming. And that's exactly what happened. Live events kept getting postponed — 'Oh, maybe we could have it later' — but no, nothing happened.

"I think it's a different reality," he explained. "And I don't think it's healthy to look at the future, and I don't think it's healthy to guess about it. We're not in the future, we're not living in the future — we're right here right now, and all the time that we try to live in the future and think about something better, we're not living right now. And this is when we have to live, and the decisions that we make each day and each moment right now, that will dictate our lives in the future. We have to live now. We have to rise up, we have to get up, take responsibility for our lives and try and do the best we can right now every day.

"Forget about the future — it's not coming, it's not here. Live now, and that way we might get to a future."

Blaze will release a new studio album, "War Within Me", on April 9. All songs were written and produced by Blaze and guitarist Christopher Appleton.

"War Within Me" finds Blaze moving forward from the success of his "Infinite Entanglement" trilogy released in consecutive years 2016-2018. The 10 brand new songs draw influences from Blaze's experience with IRON MAIDEN (1994-1999), plus his extensive solo career which started with his "Silicon Messiah" album in year 2000.

"War Within Me" is not a concept album but does include a positive thread throughout. The LP was recorded during 2020 with work split between Blaze's studio at home in the West Midlands and Christopher Appleton's studio in Greater Manchester. The now-very-consistent lineup, chosen from British metal band ABSOLVA, played on the album — Christopher Appleton (guitar, backing vocals), Martin McNee (drums), Karl Schramm (bass). Blaze and Appleton shared the work mixing and producing, while Ade Emsley (IRON MAIDEN, TANK, BRITISH LION, VOODOO SIX) handled the mastering. The striking and detailed artwork is provided by Akirant Illustration (IRON MAIDEN, "Star Wars").

During a recent appearance on the "Hardcore Humanism With Dr. Mike" podcast, BUTCHER BABIES singers Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey discussed their decision to part ways with their longtime record label two years ago. Century Media released the band's first three albums, including 2017's "Lilith", which reached No. 11 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart and No. 15 on the Hard Rock Albums chart.

"When we decided to exit our record label, it was a really hard decision," Heidi said (hear audio below). "We had the opportunity, and they were offering us money, to stay. And we didn't feel like it was going well, in a way. So, we just kind of, like, we dipped out. And ever since then, we've gone back and forth, like, kicking ourselves: Did we make the right decision? Did we not make the right decision? Like, how could we — we've always been signed, you know, and what kind of decision was that to not be signed? It felt almost, like, 'Shit, what did we do?' And I think that's where we were when we were writing the songs — like, why did we make this sort of decision? Well, now fast forward, as the songs are coming out. I don't feel as, like, 'Oh, crap.' I feel, like, okay, maybe we did make the right decision, because things are just fine. And it was a gamble. And having that gamble, I think, puts you in a really vulnerable state, by all means, and it was a huge decision. And in the end, I'm glad we made it. But I spent a couple of years really kicking myself about it. But the end result did turn out okay, and we've had it where the end result didn't turn out okay. We've had both."

Added Carla: "But that's okay, because the other special thing about our band — at least the three of us, the core members that have been together for so long — we're adaptable in all areas of our life, and that's a huge, huge thing to have on your side. And I've found that most people are not. If something changes in their life, it really sets them off, and they go off the deep end. But with us, we analyze the situation and really think about what we can do to put it back in our favor, and we're all committed to fixing it, even if it takes a while."

Last week, BUTCHER BABIES released the official music video for their latest single, "Sleeping With The Enemy". The song is the second taste of the band's forthcoming EP, tentatively due later this year via an as-yet-undisclosed record label.

"Lilith" was produced by Steve Evetts (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SEPULTURA, SUICIDE SILENCE) and marked BUTCHER BABIES' recording debut with drummer Chase Brickenden, who replaced Chris Warner in 2016.

In July 2019, longtime BUTCHER BABIES bassist Jason Klein announced his departure from the band. He has since been replaced by Ricky Bonazza.

ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffmann spoke to Australia's Metal Mal about the band's latest studio album, "Too Mean To Die", which was released on January 29 via Nuclear Blast. The LP is the group's first without bassist Peter Baltes, who exited ACCEPT in November 2018. He has since been replaced by Martin Motnik. ACCEPT's lineup has also been expanded with the addition of a third guitarist, Philip Shouse, who originally filled in for Uwe Lulis during 2019's "Symphonic Terror" tour, before being asked to join the band permanently.

Asked what it was like to see Baltes leave ACCEPT after more than four decades (on and off) of playing together, Hoffmann said (hear audio below): "I was a little bit heartbroken, and I felt it was not only a sad day for ACCEPT, it was also a sad day for rock and roll, or heavy metal, in general, because I thought we were gonna be doing this until the sun goes down — I don't know; until forever. But he all of a sudden decided otherwise, and he made that decision, and that was it. And that's sad, but what can you do, man? I decided, along with everybody else, the show must go on, and we continue without him. So this is what we did. And here's the new album — without Peter. But it's still sad. I still miss him sometimes. It's just the way it is."

In November 2019, Hoffmann told Powermetal.cl that he no longer kept in touch with Baltes after the bassist exited the group a year earlier. "Unfortunately, when somebody leaves the band, they're always kind of out of sight, out of mind," Wolf explained. "It's very sad. I wish it wasn't that way, because we've been friends for so long. But the reality is I haven't really heard from him — even though I reached out a couple of times. He's almost like he wants to disappear or he wants to leave the music business altogether. It's sad and I still don't quite understand what really happened. But it is what it is, and we move on."

"Too Mean To Die" was recorded in Nashville, Tennessee with British producer Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, MEGADETH), who has been responsible for the magnificent studio sound of ACCEPT since 2010.

Last year, Baltes and fellow former ACCEPT members Udo Dirkschneider and Stefan Kaufmann reunited in the studio to record a song called "Where The Angels Fly" as a tribute to the frontline workers who have protected others from the pandemic and put their own health at risk in doing so.

Former PORCUPINE TREE frontman Steven Wilson was asked in a new interview with FaceCulture if the recent passing of legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen affected him at all. He responded (see video below): "Honestly, it didn't, because I was never a fan. I know he's an extraordinary musician, and it's always sad when an extraordinary artist dies, [but] I was never a fan of the so-called shredder mentality. And I think in many ways, he was the father of that whole kind of movement.

"I never understood that 'playing as fast as you can' thing," he continued. "And I know that wasn't all he did — I know he was a more flexible musician than that — but I think that the legacy that he has, Eddie Van Halen, is in creating the shredder phenomenon, which is something so vile to me. That kind of idea that you play music almost like you're playing an Olympic sport is kind of anathema to my kind of ideas on creativity and music."

In response to Wilson's comments, Eddie's son Wolfgang tweeted: "Damn this bums me out hard. Been a huge fan of his for years. [PORCUPINE TREE's 2005 LP] Deadwing is one of my favorite albums of all time."

Steven previously touched upon the subject of guitar shredding in a 2018 interview with Music Radar. Speaking about his third solo album, 2013's "The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)", Wilson said: "My stuff isn't super-hard to play, but it isn't easy. It's somewhere in the middle. You need chops to be in my band, but the one thing I can't stand is shredding. I cannot abide and it has nothing to do with music and everything to do with sport. And music is not sport. It never should be. Being able to play fast has got nothing to do with my music at all.

"One of the struggles with ['The Raven That Refused To Sing' guitarist] Guthrie [Govan] was trying to get him to stop playing fast… because when he plays slowly, as everyone knows, he is sublime. But his natural setting is to play quite fast and shred. I had this kind of battle with him where I'd try to pull him back and say, 'Play slower, play less notes…' which he did absolutely beautifully when he did.

"That's the number one prerogative for me: every musician has to come in understanding the importance of playing slow, playing nothing, playing with space and feeling. They sound like really obvious things, but you'd be amazed at how many people and kids out there haven't learned that lesson. Be creative, play with space [and] understand the importance of silence."

Wilson's latest studio album, "The Future Bites", was released last year via Caroline International. The follow-up to 2017's "To The Bone" was described in a press release as "an exploration of how the human brain has evolved in the Internet era." The effort was recorded in London and co-produced by David Kosten and Steven Wilson.

Eddie died in October at the age of 65 after a long battle with cancer.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.




Damn this bums me out hard ? Been a huge fan of his for years. Deadwing is one of my favorite albums of all time.

Although... the title is a little too clickbait-y, because what he said really wasn’t that rude.

https://t.co/67YPG7pzjr

— Wolf Van Halen (@WolfVanHalen) February 1, 2021

During a recent interview with Jason Green, former WHITE LION drummer Greg D'Angelo discussed the band's split and the possibility of a reunion.

Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, WHITE LION released its debut album, "Fight To Survive", in 1985. The band had its breakthrough with the double-platinum-selling "Pride" album, which produced two Top 10 hits: "Wait" and "When The Children Cry". The band continued its success with the third album, "Big Game", which achieved gold status.

By the time WHITE LION released its final album, 1991's "Mane Attraction", alternative rock was in the ascendancy, leading to a swift decline of the so-called "hair metal" scene in terms of sales, popularity, radio play, and most importantly, relevance.

D'Angelo and bassist James Lomenzo abruptly left WHITE LION at the end of a European tour in 1991 and were promptly replaced by Jimmy DeGrasso and Tommy "T-Bone" Caradonna, respectively, just a few months before WHITE LION broke up for good.

Asked about the chances of WHITE LION reuniting 30 years after the group played its final show, Greg said (see video below): "Especially after so much time has passed, I don't think anybody would really wanna do it unless everybody wanted to do it. And Vito [Bratta, guitar] is taking care of his family. I have a lot of respect for him for doing that. I spent a few hours with him a couple of years ago when I was in New York, and it was great to see him and great to catch up. I talk to him a few times a year, or e-mail him a few times a year, and he's doing okay. He's fulfilling his responsibilities, like a good Italian boy does, and taking care of his mom, and I have nothing but respect for him for that. He's complained to me a couple of times about having some pain when he plays that might contribute to his desire to do anything again. And I think he kind of appreciates what we did and he respects the memory of the band.

"At this point, unless Vito was on board to do it and Mike [Tramp, vocals] agreed to it, it doesn't really make much sense to kind of talk about it," he explained. "I don't think anybody needs to do it, to do some bastardized version of the band where it wasn't true to what it was — at least that's what I like to think, and that seems to be the case.

"Everybody's on good footing right now, I think, and I'm happy to be talking to Mike and Vito, and really just having pleasant memories of what we did together. We had a cool little club there for a while."

D'Angelo also reflected on the circumstances that led to WHITE LION's split, explaining: "We were young guys — we were really young guys — and we had a lot of stuff thrown at us all at once, and it was a lot to handle. Honestly, I don't think we got the best advice. And that's not to throw anybody under the bus. We kind of needed a little bit of guidance. We all came from working-class families, and we had never been exposed to this kind of world, and we really didn't have any idea of how to handle it.

"Everything I'm saying is a very, very typical story with a lot of different bands," he continued. "I don't think anybody really starts off super rich and goes and becomes a rock star. Maybe today there are a couple of famous people that are in that situation where they just bought it, which is more power to 'em, but it definitely wasn't us. We were working-class kids from the suburbs of New York, and I think if we had a little bit more depth, we could have maybe navigated our way around it. And it's unfortunate that it panned out the way it did.

"I'm very proud of the last record we made, and I think it was a foreshadowing of what could have come.'

Unlike many of his counterparts, Greg went on to say that he doesn't believe the rise of grunge in the early 1990s was responsible for forcing most hard rock bands off the radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting.

"If everything is working out the right way, and everybody keeps their eye on the same prize, we could have got through the '90s," he said. "We could have played and done what we did and made enough money to keep us happy and living and content.

"Everybody says grunge kind of screwed up heavy metal. I don't think grunge screwed up heavy metal at all, really," he continued. "I think if anything, the whole big-hair heavy metal thing of the late '80s went to country more than grunge erasing the genre. I just think it shifted to country. Grunge was its own thing; it wasn't an offshoot of '80s metal — not at all."

Tramp hasn't played with Bratta since WHITE LION performed its last concert in Boston in September 1991.

In the 29 years since WHITE LION broke up, Bratta's public profile has been virtually nonexistent, while Tramp has remained active, recording and touring as a solo artist and with the bands FREAK OF NATURE, THE ROCK 'N' ROLL CIRCUZ and, more recently, BAND OF BROTHERS. Tramp also attempted to revive WHITE LION with the 2008 album "Return Of The Pride", featuring new members. Two years later, Tramp ceded ownership of the name WHITE LION to Bratta in an out-of-court settlement.

Rob Zombie has confirmed to Revolver magazine that his upcoming his seventh studio album, "The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy", was actually completed "a couple of years ago." The rocker-turned-filmmaker explained: "I like to make records over a long period of time. We'd work for a while, then we'd go on tour. We'd come back, we'd work for a while, then we'd go on tour, just live with the songs. And then just as I sort of thought, Oh, I'm going to put this out, we'll get rolling, is when '3 From Hell', my last movie, got rolling. So I'm like, Well, I'm not going to put out a record while I'm in the middle of making a movie because I can't do anything to promote it.

"So I waited till the movie stuff was over, and just as we were getting ready to go again, that's when the COVID stuff hits, and I'm, like, okay, we'll ride this out. We kind of looked at it and felt like, I dunno if we're riding this out, could go on forever. I was like, Let's just put the record out."

Due on March 12 via Nuclear Blast, "The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy" marks Rob's first new album in nearly five years. The follow-up to 2016's "The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser" was produced by Chris "Zeuss" Harris.

Rob previously told NME that "The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy" is "the best record" he has ever made. "It's a very big, crazy and complex record that I'm really excited to finally be able to release," he said. ZOMBIE guitarist John 5 compared the album to THE BEATLES' groundbreaking LP "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", saying that it is "by far the best Zombie record that he's ever done." He added: "A lot of people say, 'Oh, it's just our greatest record,' and I don't say that. Whatever I say is so honest when I'm doing interviews. So I think it's our best record."

In 2018, Rob told the KLOS radio show "Whiplash" about the material on his new album: "The songs aren't super-long, but they're much more complicated structurally — a lot more parts, a lot more changes — and it was really just a trick of trying to figure out how to make these sometimes unrelated grooves and pieces of music fit together. And that was really the challenge we tried to do this time."

"The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser" was the second consecutive effort to feature Zombie and John 5 alongside bassist Piggy D. and drummer Ginger Fish.

Photo credit: Travis Shinn

On April 16, Florida death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE will release their 15th studio album, "Violence Unimagined", via Metal Blade Records. For a first preview of the record, the new single "Inhumane Harvest" can be heard below.

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

Last month, Vicky Cornell and her children, Toni and Christopher, on behalf of The Chris Cornell Estate in conjunction with UMe, released "No One Sings Like You Anymore: Volume One", Chris Cornell's handpicked collection of 10 cover songs, which he personally selected and sequenced to celebrate artists and songs that inspired him.

Speaking to "The Rizzuto Show" on the 105.7 The Point radio station, Vicky said that there is much more music from Chris on the way. "There is a volume two," she said (hear audio below). "The thing with this volume one, though, that makes it special is that he mastered it, he sequenced it — this is all Chris from beginning to end. And the other one was mastered, not sequenced, volume two. And then, because he was just such a prolific writer, we're blessed, because he has left us lots of music. Not in completely finished form, but there's enough to work with, and the Cornell stamp is all over it. So that's really special. So there's a lot of music."

Recorded by Chris in 2016, "No One Sings Like You Anymore: Volume One", which is his last fully completed studio album, features his renditions of John Lennon's "Watching The Wheels", GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY's "Sad Sad City", Harry Nilsson's "Jump Into The Fire", Carl Hall's "You Don't Know Nothing About Love", ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA's "Showdown", Terry Reid's "To Be Treated Rite", Lorraine Ellison's "Stay With Me Baby" (originally released for HBO's show "Vinyl"), "Get It While You Can", popularized by Janis Joplin, and a new studio recording of "Nothing Compares 2 U", written by Prince. Chris's cover of GUNS N' ROSES' "Patience", which was released on his birthday last year, and earned him his first solo Billboard No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart, is also included on the album.

All instruments on "No One Sings Like You Anymore" were played by Chris Cornell and Brendan O'Brien, who also produced and mixed the album.

"No One Sings Like You Anymore" is available for physical/vinyl pre-order. The physical album will be released on March 19.

Cornell was found hanged in his room at the MGM Grand Detroit hotel in May 2017, following a SOUNDGARDEN show at the city's Fox Theatre. His body was found soon after he had spoken with a "slurred" voice to his wife by phone. The death was ruled a suicide.

In December 2019, Vicky filed a lawsuit against surviving SOUNDGARDEN members Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron and Ben Shepherd, alleging the group owed Cornell's estate hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid royalties and the rights to seven unreleased recordings made before the singer's death in May of 2017.

Responding to Vicky's lawsuit, Thayil, Cameron and Shepherd claimed that they "don't have possession" of their "own creative work," and alleged that "Vicky Cornell has possession of the only existing multi-track recordings of the last SOUNDGARDEN tracks that include Chris Cornell's instrumental parts and vocals. All of the band members jointly worked on these final tracks, Vicky now claims ownership of the final SOUNDGARDEN album."

Photo credit: Andrew Stuart

GUNS N' ROSES' Richard Fortus has confirmed that the legendary John Sykes (THIN LIZZY, WHITESNAKE) auditioned for the then-vacant guitarist slot in GN'R more than a decade ago. "That was when D.J. [Ashba] came in [back in 2009]," Fortus told Tone-Talk in a new interview (see video below). "We auditioned a bunch of people, and John Sykes was incredible.

"I remember Tommy Stinson [then-GUNS N' ROSES bassist] came in, and we walked into rehearsals, and we see John there," Richard recalled. "Tommy turns around to the tour manager, and he goes, 'Man, send him home. Why are we doing this? Axl's [Rose, GN'R singer] not gonna go for this.' And [the tour manager] is, like, 'It's John Sykes, man. He learned the songs. The least you can do is listen to him.' So Tommy was, like, 'All right. Fine.' So we go in the room, and within two minutes, Tommy is looking over at me, like, 'Oh my God!' I mean, it was incredible — incredible. And he just plugged straight into the amp, and just killed it. His tone was incredible. Our jaws were on the ground, for sure."

As for why Sykes ended up not getting the gig, Fortus said: "John's reputation does precede him. But I personally got along great with him, and I kept in contact with him. Actually, I kept in contact with him pretty regularly until I got the THIN LIZZY gig [as a touring guitarist in 2011], and then he didn't call me anymore. [Laughs] But I thought he was great."

John's best-known work was when he joined WHITESNAKE and co-wrote the band's self-titled seventh studio album, released in 1987. It produced a major power ballad hit, "Is This Love", along with the No. 1 hit "Here I Go Again". The album was a major crossover hit, eventually selling over eight million copies in the U.S. alone.

Sykes announced his departure from THIN LIZZY in July 2009, explaining that "I feel it's time to get back to playing my own music."

On January 1, Sykes released the official music video for a new song called "Dawning Of A Brand New Day". The track, which was recorded at least four years ago, is expected to appear on Sykes's long-awaited new solo album, "Sy-Ops", tentatively due later this year.

Marilyn Manson has denied the abuse allegations leveled against him by several women, including "Westworld" actress Evan Rachel Wood, calling them "horrible distortions of reality."

In a statement posted to Instagram on Monday (February 1), Manson wrote: "Obviously, my art and my life have long been magnets for controversy, but these recent claims about me are horrible distortions of reality. My intimate relationships have always been entirely consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how — and why — others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth."

Earlier on Monday, Wood, who was engaged to Manson from 2010 to 2011, publicly accused Manson of "grooming" her as a teenager and "horrifically" abusing her during their relationship. The two reportedly met when she was 18 and he was 36.

"The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson," Wood wrote on Instagram. "He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and call out the many industries that have enabled him before he ruins any more lives. I stand with the many victims who will no longer be silent."

After Wood shared her accusations, at least four other women posted their own allegations against Manson. The women claimed to have endured "sexual assault, psychological abuse, and/or various forms of coercion, violence, and intimidation" at the hands of the shock rocker.

Several hours after Wood went public with her allegations, Manson's most recent record label, Loma Vista Recordings, issued a statement discontinuing its relationship with the singer.

"In light of today's disturbing allegations by Evan Rachel Wood and other women naming Marilyn Manson as their abuser, Loma Vista will cease to further promote his current album, effective immediately," the label said. "Due to these concerning developments, we have also decided not to work with Marilyn Manson on any future projects."

In 2018, Wood testified in front of a House subcommittee in an effort to get the Sexual Assault Survivors Bill of Rights passed in all 50 states.
























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In anticipation of the international launch of DC's runaway 2020 hit limited series "Dark Nights: Death Metal", the publisher announced today plans to collaborate with seven of the most renowned metal music bands for "Dark Nights: Death Metal - Band Edition".

Representing a cross-section of metal music from across genres and generations, each special edition will feature a variant cover spotlighting a different metal band, an introduction from the band and exclusive interview.

The lineup includes:

Issue #1: Featured band: MEGADETH

Cover artist: Juanjo Guarnido

Issue #2: Featured band: GHOST

Cover artist: Werther Dell'Edera

Issue #3: Featured band: LACUNA COIL

Cover artist: Timpano / Antonio Fuso

Issue #4: Featured band: OPETH

Cover artist: Mathieu Lauffray

Issue #5: Featured band: SEPULTURA

Cover artist: Albuquerque / Pedro Mauro

Issue #6: Featured band: DREAM THEATER

Cover artist: Santi Casas

Issue #7: Featured band: OZZY OSBOURNE

Cover artist: Marco Mastrazzo

"The Dark Knights: Death Metal" seven-issue series event will launch in 13 countries internationally in March and roll out throughout 2021.

"Dark Nights: Death Metal", from the bestselling team of writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo, launched in the U.S in June 2020. "Dark Knights: Death Metal" is the sequel to the smash-hit 2017-18 series "Dark Nights: Metal", which brought widespread changes to the DC universe and introduced fans to the Dark Multiverse and a runaway hit villain the Batman Who Laughs.

When the Earth is enveloped by the Dark Multiverse, the Justice League is at the mercy of the Batman Who Laughs. Humanity struggles to survive in a hellish landscape twisted beyond recognition, while Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman, who have all been separated, fight to survive.

The seven single issues with the Band edition variant covers will be published monthly in eight countries: France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Turkey.

For the Collectors' Omnibus Edition featuring additional bonus content, these eight countries will be joined by Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Korea and Japan.

DC's international publishing partners from each participating country will announce their respective release dates with press releases soon, so check out their social media for the latest information.

SEVENDUST co-founder, guitarist and vocalist Clint Lowery has released the music video for his solo song "Silver Lining". The track is taken from his debut solo album, "God Bless The Renegades", which came out in January 2020 via Rise Records.

Lowery recorded the album with producer and co-writer Michael "Elvis" Baskette (SLASH, ALTER BRIDGE) at Studio Barbarosa in Florida. The drums on the disc were laid down by VAN HALEN bassist Wolfgang Van Halen.

"I had 30 or 40 ideas and frameworks for songs," Clint told Digital Journal. "I brought a lot of those to the table to Elvis, my producer. We went through all of those songs and we tried to figure out which songs best represented the material that I wanted to put out as my first solo release. It was very important to pick the right songs, and still connect with the SEVENDUST fanbase and at the same time, try to expand a little bit, and make new fans."

Regarding the recording process, Clint told Madness To Creation: "The recording process was probably the easiest part. I think coming up with the material and deciding what kind of record I wanted to make was the most tedious part. Here I wanted to do a super-heavy record. I also wanted to do a really organic, Southern singer/songwriter kind of thing, and then it just kind of changed and became this. I think with the recording process I watched Van Halen play bass and drums, and then with Elvis Baskette, which, through SEVENDUST, I already have a relationship with him. The process was just very smooth. We did the whole record in three and a half weeks. And once we decided on the songs, it was just about getting it laid down. Those guys are so pro and so quick, it was a very efficient record. And vocally, going in the booth and singing with Elvis, we talked in between takes. Him and I were just going back and forth and just talking about life between us. There were a couple of times where we would talk about our dads, and that kind of stuff. That was a very true piece of it I went through with him, and I think part of it was just the singer opening up. I left feeling lighter. I'm so glad I got that out."

In addition to SEVENDUST and CALL ME NO ONE, Lowery has been a member of, written, recorded, or performed with DARK NEW DAY, KORN, RED, Tommy Lee's METHODS OF MAYHEM, SNOT, 10 YEARS and DIGITAL SUMMER, among others.

BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch has quit his long-running project with ICED EARTH's Jon Schaffer, DEMONS & WIZARDS.

Hansi announced his departure from DEMONS & WIZARDS two weeks after Schaffer was arrested for his involvement in the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. The 52-year-old ICED EARTH guitarist, 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.

Earlier today (Monday, February 1), Kürsch released the following statement: "I notified Jon and Century Media [DEMONS & WIZARDS' record label] on Monday that I was leaving the DEMONS & WIZARDS project with immediate effect. My collaboration with Jon in DEMONS & WIZARDS is over."

Schaffer was still being held at Marion County Jail as of Friday morning (January 29), a week after U.S. Magistrate for the Southern District of Indiana judge Mark Dinsmore signed an order for the musician to appear in D.C.'s district court.

During the insurrection, Jon was photographed wearing an "Oath Keepers Lifetime Member" cap, holding a container of bear spray and "engaging in verbal altercations with Capitol Police inside the Capitol building," according to a federal statement of facts in his case.

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."

Two days after the insurrection, the members of BLIND GUARDIAN issued a statement distancing themselves from the violence and destruction of property at the U.S. Capitol building.

"We are deeply shocked and our thoughts are with the relatives of the deceased," they wrote on January 8. "We expressly distance ourselves from any kind of violence irrespective if applied against institutions or persons. The incidents will be thoroughly investigated and the responsibles will be brought to justice. We ask for your understanding that in view of the hourly news situation we will not make any further comments at present."

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.

Authorities say Schaffer was photographed and seen on surveillance video carrying a pepper-based bear repellant and arguing with Capitol Police officers inside the Capitol.

Just hours after the insurrection, ICED EARTH fans recognized Schaffer in a photo released by federal investigators in which he could be seen at the front of a mob, wearing black leather fingerless tactical gloves and pointing his finger while yelling at someone out of the frame.

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

While Schaffer has not yet said anything publicly about his involvement in the riot, his ICED EARTH bandmates put out a statement on Instagram and Facebook opposing the insurrection.

"We absolutely DO NOT condone nor do we support riots or the acts of violence that the rioters were involved in on January 6th at the US Capitol building," they wrote. "We hope that all those involved that day are brought to justice to be investigated and answer for their actions."

Earlier last month, German daily newspaper Die Welt uploaded a video interview it conducted with Schaffer last November at a Washington, D.C. demonstration supporting Trump and protesting the 2020 presidential election results. In the chat, the guitarist said that "a group of thugs and criminals hijacked this country a long time ago" and warned that "they're messing with the wrong people here. Because now we see you, and you're going down. Mark my words."

Schaffer also seemingly threw his support behind Trump, saying "he's not your typical Republican" and claiming that America's 45th president is "dealing with a criminal mafia that has been in the shadows running the world, frankly, for a very long time. They wanna destroy all of our sovereignty and bring about global government," he added. "We're not having it… It will not happen. There will be a lot of blood shed, if it comes down to that — trust me. The American people will not go for that bullshit — once they understand what's actually happening. So, that's where we're at. Nobody wants this, but they're pushing us to a point where we have no choice."

DEMONS & WIZARDS released its third studio album, "III", in February 2020 via Century Media Records. The LP marked the band's first collection of new material in 15 years.

In a 2019 interview with The Greene Room Magazine, Hansi stated about how DEMONS & WIZARDS was formed: "It started with a friendship. [Jon and I] met each other for the first time in 1991 when we toured together with ICED EARTH and BLIND GUARDIAN, and an immediate friendship came to happen because we were alike — in many ways, spiritual brothers from the beginning. And that goes for the two of us, but also for the two bands in general. We had a blast, and ever since, we established a very close friendship. We were not even talking about making music together. By whatsoever reason, more or less seven years later, Jon came to visit me, and we had a hangover morning he started playing guitar. I started humming to it, and we thought, 'Well, that might be the creepy melody to work on. Let's go to the BLIND GUARDIAN rehearsal room and try to do something with it.' Then we called it a song within a short amount of time; it was maybe three, four hours. That song was 'My Last Sunrise' which ended up on the very first album. When doing this song, we just recognized that there's not only a friendship, but a strong spiritual, creative chemistry between the two of us. We said, 'We may want to use that later on for whatever reason or purpose.' We thought about it for a while, and then we said, 'Well, let's use that creativity and do an album.' Then we started working on DEMONS & WIZARDS."

Schaffer talked about his collaboration with Kürsch in a 2020 interview with Myglobalmind. He said: "This is an exercise in brotherhood first and foremost. Hansi and I were very dear friends before we realized that we could write songs together. Writing together actually happened by accident. When it happened, the next question was, what are we going to do with it? The first song we wrote was 'My Last Sunrise' and it was the last song on the first DEMONS album. Initially, we talked about BLIND GUARDIAN and ICED EARTH, each doing a version, but at some point, I just said to Hansi, 'Let's just do our own thing and write a bunch more together.' It has always been about having fun and spending time together, but we do hold the pressure to ourselves in delivering something we are happy with. Nine times out of ten, the fans will be right on board. It's all about satisfying yourself as an artist first; then we let the dice roll."

In a recent interview with The Horn 104.9 & AM 1260, JUDAS PRIEST singer Rob Halford explained why he and guitarist Glenn Tipton loved the iconic mockumentary film "This Is Spinal Tap" so much when they first saw it back in 1984.

"I love satire. Glenn loves satire," Rob said (hear audio below). "The thing about satire, you can only make satire from great things that have happened in the real world. To us, that was just what 'Spinal Tap' was all about. We could see ourselves in that movie time and time again, whether it was in hotels or losing the way to the stage or things going wrong on stage with the props and the accessories. It was like watching ourselves from the outside looking in. We roared through the whole thing. It was kind of a miscommunication, I think, that this is about a real band called SPINAL TAP and this is a documentary about their life. So some of the people that were in the movie theater that afternoon that Glenn and I went to see the movie, they were very upset. They made their feelings known as they stormed out of the movie theater."

"This Is Spinal Tap" has become a cult classic since its first theatrical run over 35 years ago. The film was produced independently on a shoestring budget of $2.25 million by a company owned by the four creators, Rob Reiner, Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest and Michael McKean. Two years in production, the film was released in 1984. It soon became a cult favorite and spawned a genre that has come to be known as "mockumentary," inspiring many subsequent filmmakers. Phrases from the film's script have entered the general lexicon, including "none more black" and "it goes to 11," the latter phrase exemplified by the Tesla car, whose audio system's volume control goes to 11, as does that on the BBC's iPlayer.

Its reputation as one of the 20th Century's most enduring comedies has increased exponentially in the ensuing years. The film has garnered international praise and acclaim, having been included in "best ever" lists such as The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made; Total Film's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time list; Entertainment Weekly's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time where it appeared on the "Just Too Beloved to Ignore" list; and achieving the coveted No. 1 spot on Time Out London's 100 Best Comedy Movies list.

In 2002, the film's lasting appeal led the U.S. Library of Congress (the world's largest cultural collection), to designate it as a culturally, historically or aesthetically significant film.

Although "This Is Spinal Tap" was first released in 1984 in the U.S. and U.K., the band SPINAL TAP was actually created in the late 1970s. The band's rock musician characters "Nigel Tufnel" and "David St. Hubbins" were created by Christopher Guest and Michael McKean, with Harry Shearer creating bassist "Derek Smalls." SPINAL TAP's comedic sole claim to fame was as "one of England's loudest bands." Performing as their beloved stage personae in the company of a rotating cast of percussionists willing to risk the kit (as so many of their predecessors have been accident prone), SPINAL TAP has toured the world multiple times since the film's release. Hundreds of thousands of SPINAL TAP sound recordings have been sold over the ensuing decades and the film has been released on scores of video formats through the years.

In 2019, the band's creators concluded a new agreement with Universal Music Group. The band's recording of a full-length SPINAL TAP album featuring songs from the film is still available for physical sale, download and streaming today from UMG.

"This Is Spinal Tap" was released to little fanfare with some viewers convinced the bumbling dinosaurs — who had a knack of losing drummers in freak accidents — on screen were a genuine band. But word of mouth about the smartly observed film, which took a pop at bands such as STATUS QUO, LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH, spread and it became a sleeper hit.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, McKean, Guest and Shearer prepared several scenes with Reiner but then ad-libbed. At the end of filming, they had more than 40 hours of footage, which was edited down to a more manageable form.

When "This Is Spinal Tap" was released, not everybody got that it was a "mockumentary." U2's The Edge immediately embraced it, saying: "I didn't laugh, I wept. It was so close to the truth." Ozzy Osbourne didn't understand it, saying the first time he watched it, he thought it was a real documentary. Early home video versions of the movie reportedly even had a disclaimer at the start and finish of the movie stating the band didn't really exist.