Grammy-nominated Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based five-piece AUGUST BURNS RED will release a special version of its seminal debut album "Thrill Seeker". The LP was re-recorded from the ground up by producers Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland. And fans have always wondered what the album might sound like with vocalist Jake Luhrs, who joined the band after the album's release. The ABR faithful gets it wish with this version.

The new edition of "Thrill Seeker" features several additional sonic treats, including guest appearances by KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's Adam Dutkiewicz, the original producer of "Thrill Seeker", on "Speech Impediment", and by original "Thrill Seeker" vocalist Josh McManness on "Barbarian". It will also feature the rare bonus track "Pride & Humility", which was also re-recorded.

The anniversary version will come in three vinyl variants, along with exclusive new merch, which is available here.

The 20th-anniversary edition of "Thrill Seeker" will be independently released via the band's own ABR Records on January 24.

Today, ABR has shared the lyric video for "Your Little Suburbia Is In Ruins". Watch it below.

"When I joined the band in early 2006, I often spoke about how I'd love to do vocals on a studio recording of 'Thrill Seeker'," says Luhrs. "I did the majority of the touring on the album and always felt a deep connection to it. As the 20-year anniversary of the album approached, we decided to finally give 'Thrill Seeker' a facelift. It was such a rewarding experience to dust these songs off and give them new life. This album changed the course of my life and I can't wait for fans to hear this."

"Thrill Seeker" 20th-anniversary edition track listing:

01. Your Little Suburbia Is In Ruins
02. Speech Impediment (feat. Adam Dutkiewicz)
03. Endorphins
04. Too Late For Roses
05. Barbarian (feat. Josh McManness)
06. The Reflective Property
07. A Wish Full Of Dreams
08. Consumer
09. A Shot Below The Belt
10. Eve Of The End
11. The Seventh Trumpet
12. Pride & Humility (bonus track)

In a recent interview with "The Chuck Shute Podcast", former LYNCH MOB singer Oni Logan was asked about the possibility of working with George Lynch again, either under the LYNCH MOB name or as a separate project, Referencing the fact that LYNCH MOB is at the tail end of "The Final Ride", a farewell tour celebrating the band's 35-year legacy, Oni said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "'The Final Ride', I don't know much about it. All I know is that George seems to be happy. And we have texted in the past about maybe doing another album together — not under the LYNCH MOB moniker, but under just LYNCH & LOGAN, because that is the essence and the core of the LYNCH MOB sound. So at some point I think we'll get to it before we turn to dust. It would be a celebration of what we had done in the past and something new that we could leave the fans with, if it should be a last venture together. I would look forward to it. We'll see if it happens."

When host Chuck Shute suggested that Logan's new project with Lynch "would be more of a joint effort" between the two musicians rather than Oni just being signed on as a hired gun., the singer clarified: "Well, I never was signed on in the first place as a hired gun. [George and I] were always 50-50 in partnership as far as the money and also on a creative level. So that has always remained right from the beginning. That's why you'll see me not go out on tour [with LYNCH MOB] because that is the deal that we started with and that's the deal that we normally do when I'm with him. I understand that he has a need to go out and make it favorable for him, so that's why we're probably not working together right now. Well, that is the reason why we're not working together because he'd rather favor paying some fellas a fee instead of sharing the loot."

Asked why a possible new collaboration with Lynch wouldn't be made available under the LYNCH MOB moniker and would instead be called LYNCH & LOGAN, Oni explained: "Because I think that's the true essence and the core of LYNCH MOB, and ultimately the brand LYNCH MOB is owned by George Lynch, which doesn't favor me at all. After doing so many miles and years promoting his brand and name, it leads me to… I mean, I worked all those years and spent all those miles building his brand, so it doesn't do me any favors. But it is what it is — it's his name and I accept it and that's the way that it goes. But it doesn't favor me when I say… I wanted to go out and do dates, talking to an agent, under Oni Logan. [The agent would say] 'Oh, Oni, it would be great if you could just use the LYNCH MOB name, because you have history and the promoters know this brand name and they know that this brand name will bring in a clientele.'"

During the same chat, Oni talked about another project that he is working on which will see him collaborating with "well-known" musicians outside the hard rock and heavy metal genre.

"I'd like to put something together. I'm at the moment seeking different musicians, interesting musicians that will do something that's a little bit outside of the box," he said. "They're great musicians. So something out of the box, meaning experimenting with rhythms, having the guitarist being able to really stretch, having a bass player that can really play fluidly. So it's gonna be not your usual thing that you probably hear me doing or expect me to do. It'll be something that is going to be adventurous. I think at this point in time in my life, I have to allow myself to have that. If I don't, there's not gonna be any growth. I become bored rather quickly if I stay in the main route of what everybody expects me to do. And I hope that people will come along for the ride and accept that we all have to grow.

"I found giant leaps in the past two years self-wise individually here [in my heart], and I know that it's here [in my head] too, as well, that my longing and my thirst for creative adventure has never been so high in its pinnacle, what I wanna do than now in my life right now."

Elaborating on how his new project will be different from what he has done before, Oni said: "This new departure, this new idea of recording will be with some really good musicians that are a little bit out of the box. And when I say this, I say this as a positive, working around rhythms, polyrhythms and so forth, and being able to stretch vocally into areas that I haven't done before.

"We're all growing, and as music lovers, our ears become more expansive and we tend to draw in from different areas of different cultures, different music that's just so widely out there. I'm a big fan of listening to all types of music. I'm no longer 20, I'm no longer 30, I'm no longer 40."

Asked when this new project will be coming out, Oni said: "I don't have a release date. I'm just talking to a few musicians right now. And they're all rather well known and they know my history in rock. Sometimes they go, 'Oh, he's a metaller,' but it's not true because I can sing the blues, I can cut up the rug with soul music — I'm pretty versatile as far as my voice works. So there's been an acceptance from their side, which is nice to know that they're willing to work with me. So I won't name the musicians right now because I'd like for it to become into fruition before I announce anything."

Logan first hooked up with LYNCH MOB in 1990, but exited the group after the release of its first album, only to rejoin the outfit in the late 2000s. His most recent departure from LYNCH MOB took place in January 2018. At the time, he said in a statement that he was "looking forward to writing with other artists and bands."

Logan is featured on five of LYNCH MOB's eight albums, including the band's debut, 1990's "Wicked Sensation", as well as 2009's "Smoke And Mirrors", 2014's "Sun Red Sun", 2015's "Rebel" and 2017's "The Brotherhood".

Joining Lynch on LYNCH MOB's "The Final Ride" farewell tour are singer Gabriel Colón, drummer Jimmy D'Anda and bassist Jaron Gulino.

LYNCH MOB was formed in 1989 after Lynch parted ways with his former band DOKKEN. Their debut release, "Wicked Sensation", was met with critical and fan acclaim and went on to be certified gold in sales by the RIAA. The band would continue on through the years with a cast of talented players joining Lynch throughout their musical journey over the course of six more studio albums.

Released in October 2023, "Babylon" was LYNCH MOB's eighth studio album overall and the first since "The Brotherhood".

"We have had a busy 2024," begins an update from Stryper. "Thanks to the best fans in the world, it was an amazing year. Here are some highlights for the year and a little about what we have planned for 2025."


February 2024:


"We started off the year with an amazing Stryper Fan Weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts where we spent quality time with some amazing friends and fans, and we also learned who in our group is a good bowler, and who is not. Stay tuned for details on the next Stryper fan weekend."







March/April 2024:


"We played two of our favorite places… Puerto Rico, and shortly afterward, M3 Festival."





April 2024:


"Along with for King & Country and Lecrae, we released “To Hell With The Devil (RISE)” as part of the Unsung Hero movie. The movie won a Dove Award for Inspirational Film of the Year, and the song is nominated for a We Love Award."





May 2024:


"We released our very first acoustic album, To Hell With The Amps, and a couple of weeks later embarked on our very first acoustic tour."








July 2024:


"We returned this year to perform at the amazing Alive Music Festival and got to catch up with our friends in For King and Country among others. We love that festival!"


September 2024:


"We kicked-off our 40th Anniversary Tour where we performed 2 sets of classic and current material. We hit 37 cities on this tour, quite a few of them were sold-out shows, and we had an absolute blast!

"That same month, we released our 16th studio project, When We Were Kings. The album hit 5 Billboard Charts, including #2 Christian Albums and #16 Top Current Album Sales."

December 2024:

"Michael performed a handful of solo shows including his 8th Annual Christmas Show in Plymouth, Mass (Mark your calendar: the 9th Annual will be December 13th, 2024).

"Michael and Lisa Sweet started a new Foundation in 2024 called Faith In Music Foundation. You will be hearing more about that in 2025."

What's up for 2025?

"2025 is also going to be a busy year for us as we do some international touring. You'll start to see dates announced soon at Stryper.com​

"We will continue work on the Stryper Documentary, which we made incredible progress on in 2024 interviewing dozens and dozens of celebrities, fans, and people inside the Stryper circle.

"We will be very active on our Patreon page, also known as The Stryper Fan Club Plus, with listening parties, chat sessions, Bible Studies, and even the release of some new exclusive music.

"Thank you for an amazing year, for supporting the band, and for all that you do to make the world a better place. We love you!

"God Bless You All, MS, RS, OF, PR"

The Veer Union have launched into 2025 with the release of the their new album, Welcome To Dystopia. The eight song, apocalyptic themed album by the Vancouver BC, Canada based group includes previously released hit singles “Empirical”, “Is This How It Ends”, and the title track, which included a guest appearance by rising rockers Silent Theory.


The focus track for the LP is “No Excuse” which excoriates leaders around the world for leaving the poor, middle class and working class behind in an evolving world – in order to help the wealthy grow their net worth to obscene levels. An ominous spoken word intro explodes into driving guitars, buoyed by a hypnotic piano and synth melody line that are propelled forward by thunderous drums with a chugging, relentless rhythm.


The Veer Union says, "'No Excuse' is a powerful rallying cry that exposes the deep-rooted betrayal of the working class by those in power. For decades, our leaders have decimated the middle class by outsourcing our manufacturing base, leaving communities to struggle while the wealthy elite thrive. At the same time, governments have colluded with big tech to suppress dissent, using cancel culture and censorship as tools to control the narrative."




They continue, “Endless wars have claimed countless innocent lives, torn nations apart, and yet, the only ones to benefit are those at the top. We’ve endured lockdowns, had our freedoms stripped away, and watched our futures grow uncertain. The dream of prosperity has been ripped from us, leaving today’s youth with little more than a dim outlook for a better tomorrow. The rise of AI and robotics threatens to further control, weaponizing technology to erode autonomy. But in this age of information, people are waking up exponentially to the reality of our situation—and they’re demanding accountability from those who’ve betrayed us. All hope is not lost… Yet."


Get the new album here.





Welcome To Dystopia tracklisting:


"No Excuse"
"Is This How It Ends?"
"Shades Of Gray"
"Empirical"
"The Underground"
"Welcome To Dystopia"
"Dig Their Own Graves"
"Space & Time"

Gràb have dropped the forest dwelling video clip “Waidler” ("Woodsman”). This track is the next single taken from their forthcoming new album Kremess (English: 'funeral feast', German "Leichenschmaus"). The sophomore full-length of the Bavarian black metal duo has been chalked-up for release on February 21, 2025.


Preorder here.


"The opening track of the album is named 'Waidler', which is a dialectal word that corresponds loosely translated with the English term 'Woodlander' – in the sense of a person living in a forest", vocalist and lyricist Grànt explains. "This song is dedicated to the Bavarian Forest. Whenever I visit this region of Lower Bavaria, it feels to me like a journey back in time – in a positive way. I very much like the traditional way of living there. Of course, there is also the stunning nature of the Bavarian Forest – harsh and majestic at the same time. That is exactly what we want to convey with the lyrics and the music of 'Waidler'. In my book, we have quite succeeded in delivering a really powerful opening track that also includes a guest contribution by former Dark Fortress vocalist Morean."




Gràb offer both, continuity and change, on their sophomore full-length Kremess. The Bavarian black metal project founded by vocalist Grànt continues to revolve lyrically around tales and traditions narrated in the local dialect of Germany's southernmost Alpine state: Bavaria. "Kremess" means 'funeral feast' in that language and death plays a leading role on this album.


Musically, Gràb still feature a prominent traditional instrument of their region, the hammered dulcimer. This gets combined with particularly Norwegian strands of black metal such as early Gehenna, Ulver, and Darkthrone as well as taking inspiration from German pioneers of the genre namely Nagelfar and Lunar Aurora. Adding to the local sonic colours are many fresh ideas and sounds that came with English guitarist Gnàst, who has replaced previous main songwriter Grain in the meantime. A host of guest musicians including members of Empyrium, Triptykon, and Dark Fortress among others has further enhanced the musical spectrum.


Gràb were conceived by former Dark Fortress frontman Grànt (a.k.a. Azathoth) who wanted to bring a particularly Bavarian expression to black metal. The use of vernacular elements in this harsh style of music emerged early in its for

Avantasia's Tobias Sammet continues his track-by-track description of a new song from the upcoming Here Be Dragons album. H.E.A.T.'s Kenny Leckremo is revealed as the guest singer stars on “Against The Wind”, described as an "anthemic powerful speed metal rocket."





Sammet writes: “Track by Track: ‘Against The Wind’ is an anthemic powerful speed metal rocket with some quite unique phrasings, melancholic melodies and very unusual twists and turns. It combines very early Avantasia trademarks with new elements and yet it somehow reminds me of the carefreeness of my very early songs. Also lyrically I reflect on where I come from, which approach I once set out with and how to be true to yourself despite the headwind and outside expectations. My friend Kenny Leckremo of H.E.A.T. is a wonderful duet partner on this one, it's got some challenging vocal lines and I think the two of us do a pretty good job together, conveying the two extremes of the song: Power and emotion!”




Sammet on "Bring On The Night" featuring Magnum's Bob Catley:


Sammet writes: “Track by Track: ‘Bring On The Night’ was written on the evening of July 6th, 2024 within a few hours as a heartfelt tribute to Magnum and the late Tony Clarkin. I dive deeper into the background story in the Artbook version of the new album, but in brief words: the song came to me within minutes in an almost spiritual way, and I just had to capture it and turn it into an Avantasia tune. 


“I wanted to do it justice and used the sounds and keyboards played on classic ‘80s Magnum records, and of course there would be only one singer in the world, who could sing that song with me, the undisputed king of magic, the storyteller on a storyteller's night: my dear friend and partner for 25 years now, Birmingham's finest: Mr. Bob Catley. It's such a wonderful song, anthemic, melancholic, quite a bit ‘80s... or better: timeless. This kind of approach and the magic you feel when a piece of music is given to you out of nowhere and it all comes together, those are the sacred moments in music that drive me. 


“Bob had tears in his eyes when he sang it, and I was trying to hide mine behind my goggles when I was sitting next to him. It's just so beautiful. Bob, I love you for rocking my world and being the friend and inspiration you are, I can't wait until March to hit the road with you again!”


Sammet on "Everybody's Here Until The End" with guest singer Roy Khan:


“Track by Track: ‘Everybody's Here Until The End’! When the album was almost done I felt that we had a lot of furious and fast material, and I thought that I was still in need of a grand finale for an epic ending, something conciliatory and big, and I sat down on my piano and started to play a ballad which would eventually grow from a piano piece into a monumental power ballad. It's a very personal song but eventually I wanted a duet partner who would add more depth. And I reached out to an old acquaintance to the Avantasia family, the mighty Roy Khan (ex-Kamelot) to help me shape this song to an amazing finale of an enchanting album. I think it's one of the most moving and emotional, and yet biggest ballads I have ever done.”


Sammet on "The Moorlands At Twilight" featuring Helloween's Michael Kiske:


“Track by Track: ‘The Moorlands At Twilight’ is a really rampant speed metal anthem with my lovely brother in Avantasia since the early days, Michael Kiske delivering a killer vocal performance. I guess that type of music is just in my DNA and even though it's a classic Avantasia song I think that the atmosphere is different to anything we've done before. I can hear some early Helloween influence in there, even though the song is very unique with its playful neo-classical elements and wild approach. Also, the lead guitars are extreme and quite virtuous: Sascha Paeth and Arne Wiegand have delivered an extensive, fast and hymnic axe battle that made my jaw drop. When ‘power metal’ is done like that, I absolutely love it!”


Sammet previously described "Here Be Dragons" featuring Geoff Tate:


"Track by Track: ‘Here Be Dragons’ is the longest song on the album and features a great duet with my good friend and one of my vocal heroes since his early days in Queensrÿche, Mr. Geoff Tate, who’s outdone himself on the track. It’s a groovy mid-tempo song with enchanting melodies, orchestral elements, big keyboard passages and a powerful guitar riffing driving the main parts of the song. Even though you can hear some classic Dio, Queensrÿche and even Marillion elements in there, it’s a typical Avantasia song and a very unqiue one. It has two different choruses and a very emotional and big sounding mid-section. The song wasn’t meant to be that long, but there isn’t a single note I would change or leave out if I listen to the final result now.”


Rock and metal flagship, Avantasia, will release their 10th studio album and Napalm Records debut, Here Be Dragons, on February 28. They recently unleashed the energizing first new single, “Creepshow”.


The new track is one of the catchiest songs of Avantasia’s career so far, and it arrives with an exciting, cinematic music video. The guaranteed future hit rings in a new era of Avantasia and will be an integral part of Avantasia’s spectacular live shows.


In their 25 years of existence, Avantasia has become one of the biggest leading forces in metal, boasting nine successful previous albums (such as the #1 charting Moonglow), worldwide sold-out arena tours and headline shows at all of the most important metal festivals. Here Be Dragons is sure to exceed all expectations as the most powerful Avantasia album so far.


Tobias Sammet on the single and video: "'Creepshow' is a perfect single. It’s short and catchy, and it emphasizes a facet of my work that has taken a backseat in my music in recent years. It’s light-hearted and the opposite of melancholic. And it's fresh, boisterous and unabashed - a straightforward kick-ass anthem. Also, even though it may seem like a reminiscence of my earlier writing, I think we managed to turn the whole thing into a trademark Avantasia tune, as we accentuated with the music video. We rented a haunted castle in North England and celebrated a night in the world of spectres and undead creatures. This is the most vibrant and eccentric music video I’ve ever shot in my entire career, not dead-serious, but certainly of serious quality! I can’t wait to play 'Creepshow' live on our tour next year, I can already see the whole venue jumping up and down and screaming along!”


Watch the official music video for “Creepshow”:





Featuring absolute Avantasia essentials such as spellbinding choirs and theatrical symphonic metal elements, multitalented mastermind and frontman Tobias Sammet also surprises fans old and new with plenty of intriguing fresh soundscapes. Here Be Dragons gives the celebrated Avantasia sound that has been carefully crafted over a quarter of a century an exciting and powerful spin. The new album is the most consistent and concise piece of art that the band has ever crafted.


Avantasia is not showing any signs of slowing down - soon after the release of Here Be Dragons, the band will head out on an extensive arena tour across Europe, promising to deliver fans an immersive experience with their biggest and most epic production ever.


In grand Avantasia tradition, the new full-length is rich in vivid storytelling and cinematic atmospheres, not to mention the highest level of musicianship. Opening track “Creepshow” is without a doubt one of the catchiest songs in their career. The energizing future hit truly welcomes the listener into the new era of Avantasia and will be an integral part of the band’s spectacular live shows. In contrast, the incredible title track “Here Be Dragons” is a classic Avantasia song, and at almost nine minutes, is by far the longest on the album. The cinematic dark soundscapes of “The Witch” captivate and support the song’s storyline perfectly. Emotional, multifaceted vocal performances mesmerize on “Avalon”, while the heavy metal number “Against The Wind” serves as further proof of the versatility of Avantasia’s sound. Remaining well-balanced and cohesive, Here Be Dragons is undeniably Avantasia’s most powerful album so far.


The 10-track offering was written and composed in its entirety by Tobias Sammet himself, produced and recorded by Tobias Sammet together with Sascha Paeth, mixed by Sascha Paeth and mastered by Michael Rodenberg. The stunning cover art was once again created by acclaimed British fantasy artist Rodney Matthews. Here Be Dragons marks another masterpiece in the Avantasia catalog, leaving both fans and critics speechless and proving the band’s standing as a main force in the world of rock and metal!


Here Be Dragons is now available for pre-order in several exciting physical editions, with bonus albums included in select limited formats, like a 3CD hardcover artbook with 96 pages, over 160 pictures, drawings of Rodney Matthews and extensive stories to accompany the music and pictures. 





Here Be Dragons will be available in the following formats:


- 3CD-Artbook – large format, hardcover book incl. 96 pages, over 160 pictures and extensive stories and liner notes
- 3LP Vinyl Box incl 72 Pages 12" Booklet – strictly limited to 500 copies
- 1LP Glow in the Dark Vinyl incl 12'' Booklet – strictly limited to 300 copies – Napalm Records Mailorder exclusive
- 1LP Yellow/Orange Marbled Vinyl incl 12'' Booklet – strictly limited to 300 copies – Napalm Records Mailorder exclusive
- 1LP Blue/White Splattered Vinyl incl 12" Booklet + Poster + Slipmat – strictly limited to 500 copies – Napalm Records Mailorder exclusive ROW
- 1LP Orange incl 12'' Booklet     
- 1LP Black incl 12'' Booklet         
- Tape – strictly limited to 100 copies – Napa

Today, Swedish melodic hard rockers, Art Nation, are thrilled to share their new single and video, “Set Me Free”, out now via Frontiers Music Srl.





Vocalist Alexander Strandell comments on the new single: “We are thrilled to share this exciting new perspective of Art Nation with you. In the music video for 'Set Me Free', you’ll witness us stepping into the animated world of Art Nation for the very first time. In this inaugural episode, you’ll follow me, Chris, and Rich as we discover the first portal to this otherworldly dimension.”




Stream "Set Me Free" here, and watch the video below:





Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, Art Nation is the rising force in modern melodic Metal. Founded by Alexander Strandell and Christoffer Borg, the band is gaining acclaim for their astonishing hit-writing potential, their truly captivating sound and dynamic live performances.


With his powerful and emotive vocals, Alexander Strandell has captivated audiences on Sweden's National TV and radio. A nominee for “Rock Voice of the Year”, his commanding stage presence and vocal mastery set him apart as one of the most dynamic performers in rock today.


A producer and guitarist celebrated for his precision and creativity, Christoffer Borg has worked with iconic names like Amaranthe, Anthrax, and Evergrey. His exceptional skills bring a polished and melodic edge to Art Nation's signature sound.


Known for his incredible technical prowess and musicality, Richard Svärd has played with a lot of musicians and also toured with thrash legends Death Riders. His deep grooves and intricate bass lines lay the foundation for Art Nation’s unstoppable momentum.


Their debut album Revolution in 2015 received great reviews, earning them nominations at the esteemed “Gaffa Awards” in Sweden. In 2016, they penned the official anthem for the “Gothia Cup” soccer tournament, p

Tarja has released the official video for "Until My Last Breath", from her recently released Rocking Heels: Live At Hellfest, available via earMUSIC. Watch below:





On June 19, 2016, Tarja delivered a captivating performance at Hellfest, one of Europe's largest and most prestigious metal festivals held in Clisson, France. Her powerful blend of operatic vocals and heavy metal instrumentation enthralled the audience, making her performance one of the festival's highlights. The setlist featured a carefully curated mix of her solo work and iconic Nightwish songs.




Opening with “No Bitter End” from her 2016 album, The Shadow Self, Tarja set the tone for an evening of intensity and emotion. Her dynamic stage presence and dramatic musical arrangements created an unforgettable experience, solidifying her status as one of metal's greatest female singers.


Experience the raw energy and powerful emotion of Tarja Turunen's unforgettable performance at Hellfest 2016. Rocking Heels: Live At Hellfest is available as a Ltd. 1LP Gatefold Vinyl Edition, CD Digipak in LP-replica design and on Digital. Order here.





Tracklisting:


"No Bitter End"
"Never Enough"
"Ciaran's Well"
"Calling From The Wild"
"Supremacy"
"Victim Of Ritual"
"Tutankhamen / Ever"
"Tutankhamen" / "Ever Dream" / "The Riddler" / "Slaying The Dreamer" (Nightwish Medley)
"Die Alive"
"Until My Last Breath"


"Never Enough" video:

Following a triumphant tour with BEAT - featuring Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, and Danny Carey performing the iconic 1980s music of King Crimson - renowned bassist Tony Levin is back with another video release from his latest solo album, Bringing It Down To The Bass. The video for his track "Road Dogs" arrives as a reflection on over three months spent living and traveling on a tour bus with his BEAT bandmates and crew.


Originally conceived as an instrumental, "Road Dogs" has evolved into a visual exploration of life on the road for musicians and their dedicated crew. "Tony’s initial idea for the video was to create a gritty nightclub vibe rather than a straightforward tour documentary," says video producer A.J. Chippero. "I proposed a comic book-style approach, incorporating Tony's personal photos and videos not only from BEAT, but from King Crimson, Peter Gabriel, and Stick Men tours, transformed into a black-and-white comic aesthetic. The result pays homage to Tony’s legendary online Road Diaries, one of the longest-running blogs in music."


Tony says, “We road dogs who tour all the time aren’t just the players onstage - as the lyrics say, there’s trucking & rigging and loading and gigging… so, many of my photos of the crews in action seemed right for the video.”







For the album, Bringing It Down To The Bass, Tony enlisted an impressive roster of collaborators, including King Crimson and Peter Gabriel alumni Robert Fripp, Pat Mastelotto, Jerry Marotta, Steve Hunter, and Larry Fast. The album also showcases renowned talents such as Steve Gadd, David Torn, Earl Slick, Gary Husband, Shankar, Vinnie Colaiuta, and Mike Portnoy. Together, they deliver a rich blend of rock, jazz, classical, blues, and ambient influences.


Bringing It Down To The Bass, featuring the new video "Road Dogs," is available now from Flatiron Records. Stream, download or purchase the album here. The release is available on double vinyl, CD, Blu-ray and digital streaming. The Blu-ray features Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD 7.1/5.1 mixes and hi-res stereo audio. The Apple Music stream is available in Immersive Audio / Dolby Atmos. Thiago Lima at Iguana Studios Toronto, Canada mixed the Atmos tracks.


Bringing It Down To The Bass has no shortage of wit and whimsy, and songs of power and profundity. Most are instrumental tracks, while a few feature vocals and spoken word. The sonic stew includes Prog, Jazz, Thrash, Classical, a whiff of barbershop quartet, and you won’t be sure what’s around the corner. And while it’s called Bringing It Down To The Bass – and that’s no lie - it’s not all about that bass. Levin’s seventh solo album, and his first since 2007, is an autobiography of sorts, with the themes drawn from Levin’s musical life. It features a myriad of collaborators from his half-century-plus on the road and in the studio with Peter Gabriel, King Crimson and many, many others.


“I had pieces very much in the prog-rock vein and I had pieces that were based on the bass,” Levin says, “and somewhere around the middle of the record I made the difficult decision to toss the prog stuff – well, not toss it exactly, save it for another album – and the more I focused, I chose the kind of pieces that had to me a sense of unity to it in that it’s about the bass. Not songs with singing about the bass, but each song is either based on a bass riff or a bass technique that I then invited some great rhythm sections to play on.


“My basses do each sound different. I wanted to write at least one piece with the funk fingers and I did that fingernail way of playing that I featured on one piece, and hammer-on technique on that first piece, ‘Bringing It Down To The Bass.’ I used to use that a long time ago and I hadn’t used lately since I got the Stick, which is designed to play with the hammer-on technique. That’s also a piece that has a rocking, really hot rhythm section with Manu Katche, from Peter’s band on drums. Also, maybe two or three times in the piece it breaks down and stops to just the bass playing different riffs and then Dominic Miller, from Sting’s band, comes in and solos and Alex Foster solos on sax.”


The recording of “Road Dogs” began as an instrumental piece. He revisited a sound he’s used throughout his career, playing the fretless b

Sammy Hagar has shared live footage of Van Halen performing "Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do" in 1995.


Says Hagar: "Singing this song was always difficult. I wrote the lyrics about Kurt Cobain's death. I wanted the chorus to say "I wanna tell you what love can do", but Bruce Fairbank, Ed and Al wanted to make it more dark and negative. Technically it's a brutal song to sing. I painted myself in a corner, but we will be doing it at the residency in Vegas. I'm going to add it to the show."







Last year Hagar announced that The Best Of All Worlds, his critical and commercial hit summer 2024 tour, will launch in 2025 as The Best Of All Worlds Tour - The Residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM. The tour will reunite the rock powerhouse band of Sammy, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Kenny Aronoff with a new “only in Las Vegas” setlist running April 30 through May 17, 2025. The tour represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this band of brothers deliver one of the most legendary hits-packed live shows of their careers.


This highly anticipated residency will showcase Sammy’s career-spanning hits, from seminal breakouts with Montrose, his iconic solo hits, and a deep dive into his tenure with Van Halen, Chickenfoot, and everything in between. Presented in partnership by Live Nation and MGM Resorts International, the residency will be custom-designed for Dolby Live, giving fans an intimate, high-energy concert experience in the 5,200-seat entertainment venue.


“I'm so looking forward to this residency and being able to stay in one place so we can get the sound and production completely dialed in,” said Sammy Hagar. “It also allows the band to experiment with the setlist every night – that’s why it’s going to be exclusive to Las Vegas. Instead of traveling all day on tour when there's no time to rehearse and make changes. I plan on digging deeper into the Van Halen catalog, and my solo career, Montrose and Chickenfoot, as well. The fans are in for a lot of surprises.”


The Las Vegas residency follows on the heels of the chart-topping success of The Best of All Worlds tour, which sold out amphitheaters and arenas across North America and Japan. Together with the release of The Collection II, the 2023 box set featuring newly remastered versions of the four consecutive #1 albums released during the Hagar era of Van Halen: 5150 (1986), OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991), and Balance (1995), fans were reinvigorated by their arsenal of hits, many which hadn't been played live since the band’s 2004 reunion tour. Musician Rai Thistlethwayte will also return on keyboard and backing vocals to round out the band of brothers and deliver an exclusive new hits-packed live show.


Tickets for the nine shows are available at ticketmaster.com/SammyHagarVegas or RedRocker.com.


The Best of All Worlds tour received universal raves from fans who’d been waiting 20 years to experience it live again, and critics who universally praised it.


“The crowd remained on their feet for most of the show, singing along or holding up their phones to capture the moment. The musicians seemed to be having just as much fun. Hagar, alongside Anthony, made it clear that the tour was not just a performance but a ‘celebration’ of Van Halen’s enduring legacy. 'It’s a celebration of the music and the people who supported that band,’ Hagar said. And the fans couldn’t agree more.” – USA Today


“Now this is going to be an amazing tour! If you’re ever going to play the Van Halen music, this tour you put together is going to be a massive celebration of all the music. I get emotional just listening to it.” – Howard Stern, The Howard Stern Show


“Sammy Hagar sounded ageless as he celebrated Van Halen and more in Phoenix. Joe Satriani did a great job of channeling Eddie Van Halen (and more). The phrase ‘guitar hero’ is obviously overused, but Satriani more than lives up to the title. He’s a total badass on

During an appearance on the latest episode of "The Metallica Report", the podcast offering weekly insider updates on all things METALLICA, METALLICA frontman James Hetfield spoke about his perennial and peerless lyrics. The band's primary songwriter shared what he loves about the architecture of words, whether he sees himself as a storyteller, and his appreciation of American musician and songwriter Tom Waits.

Regarding his approach to writing lyrics, Hetfield said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "For me, not studying literature much at all — ever, really — all the books you're supposed to read as a kid, I didn't, but I will pick up a book and thumb through it. Mostly I see words that are interesting, and that's out of curiosity. And me, I would say that coming from a graphics background, the way a word looks is almost more important. Like 'Lux Æterna' — how cool is that? There's an X in it, and then the A [and] E together. How cool. It's almost how it looks.

"As far as Tom Waits just being a master craftsman at lyrics, painting a picture in one sentence, it interests me, and it takes work," he continued. "I saw Tom kind of live it. It was his vocabulary as well. He could sit and speak like that. I can't.

"Having access to the sources and dictionaries and things like that nowadays is so great," Hetfield added. "I mean, somebody will send me something and I'll look at a word and I don't know what that is. I highlight it, look it up. Hey, great. I got that. I will thumb through books just to see cool words and put 'em in a little pile and figure out where they belong. So it is kind of like building a vehicle, building a whatever, collecting lots of little words. And how do they fit together? What does this really mean? Is this enough for a subject matter? Then I go and I watch a band like GREEN DAY, and they have some simple — 'know your enemy' or 'do you know your enemy?', something like that. It's, like, it's so hooky and great, it sticks in you, but that's not really literary geniusness. So 'geniusness' is another word I just made up. And there are times when I'll make up words just to get a point across too.

"For me, putting words into the song, it is like another instrument," James explained. "So if 'and', 'the', 'if'', those things get in the way, just get rid of 'em. You just want the meaty words to get in there and get the point across and be vague enough. But I'm not a storyteller. I'm not that."

Asked if he thinks he has become more comfortable with his ability to express himself through his lyrics over the years, Hetfield said: "I think so. Yeah. I was discouraged when we did [METALLICA's late 1990s albums] 'Load' and 'Reload' with the amount of songs. There were 45 songs I had to write lyrics for and I felt like, "Wait a minute. I've gotta write 45 songs' worth of lyrics. It's insane.' All that 45 songs would not be as potent as one really well-written lyric — to me. And being more comfortable with stuff that I think brings the point across. Yeah, we have — Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] and I co-producers, Greg Fidelman, co-producer. I come in with the lyrics. They'll read through 'em. And they'll just, 'Oh, yeah, that word. I'm not sure.' It's, like, 'Well, just let me sing it. Let me get it out there.' Even something like [the METALLICA song] 'Inamorata' [with the lyrics] 'Resentment like a cancer grows.' He's, like, 'Ah, the word 'cancer'. Nah, you can't sing that. It's too…' Like, dude, come on. I mean, I'm not trying to win any P.C. awards for anything. Cancer is a fucking powerful word. It's hated, and to apply it to something gives it that power.

"I'm gonna write what I need to write," James added. "I will listen to you and your opinion on it. If it doesn't sing well, I get it, but I'm not gonna put in some fluff word just so it rhymes or whatever. And sometimes that is needed. Rhyming can be more important than the context in certain places, but I want the words to just be as powerful as possible."

METALLICA's record-breaking "M72" world tour has been extended into a third year, with the announcement of 21 North American shows spanning April, May and June 2025.

Since opening April 2023 in Amsterdam, "M72" has seen METALLICA play to some three million fans. Variously hailed as "an altogether life-affirming experience" (Billboard),"impossible to leave unsatisfied" (Austin Chronicle),"a stone-cold stunner of a show" (Detroit News),"the mother of all summer concerts" (Worcester Telegram Gazette) and "as tight and furious as METALLICA has sounded in ages" (Los Angeles Times),"M72" continues to amaze fans and critics alike. The tour concluded its triumphant 2024 run with four nights at Mexico City's Estadio GNP Seguros, where METALLICA played to more than 250,000 fans over the course of two No Repeat Weekends.

The "M72" world tour's 2025 itinerary will continue the hallowed No Repeat Weekend tradition, with each night of the two-show stands featuring entirely different setlists and support lineups. These will include the band's first Nashville shows in five years on May 1 and 3 at Nissan Stadium, as well as METALLICA's return to Tampa after 15 years on June 6 and 8 at Raymond James Stadium. "M72" has also confirmed its much-anticipated Bay Area hometown play, to take place June 20 and 22 with the band's debut performances at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara.

In a new twist, "M72" 2025 will feature several single shows bringing the tour's full production, with its massive in-the-round stage, to venues including two college football stadiums: JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, New York on April 19, and METALLICA's first ever visit to Blacksburg, Virginia, home of the Virginia Tech Hokies. The May 7 show at Lane Stadium will mark the culmination of 20-plus years of "Enter Sandman" playing as the Hokies take the field.

In addition to playing football stadiums across the nation, the "M72" world tour's 2025 itinerary will also include two festival headlines — the first being the opening night of the run April 12 at Sick New World at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds. May 9 and 11 will then mark a festival/No Repeat Weekend combo as METALLICA plays two headline sets at Sonic Temple at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

Support on "M72"'s 2025 North American run will come from PANTERA, LIMP BIZKIT, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and ICE NINE KILLS.

"M72"'s 2025 North American leg is produced by Live Nation and presented by new sponsor inKind. inKind rewards diners with special offers and credit back when they use the app to pay at 2,000-plus top-rated restaurants nationwide. The company provides innovative financing to participating restaurants in a way that enables new levels of sustainability and success. METALLICA fans can learn more at inkind.com.

As always, a portion of proceeds from every ticket sold will go to local charities via the band's All Within My Hands foundation. Established in 2017 as a way to give back to communities that have supported METALLICA over the years, All Within My Hands has raised over $15 million — providing $8.2 million in grants to career and technical education programs including the ground-breaking Metallica Scholars Initiative, now in its sixth year, over $3.6 million to combat food insecurity, more than $3.5 million to disaster relief efforts.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin

In a new interview with Defenders Of The Faith, AEROSMITH's Tom Hamilton reflected on the experience of playing bass for THIN LIZZY on the latter band's anniversary shows in 2016 and 2017. Tom joined THIN LIZZY guitarists Scott Gorham and Damon Johnson, together with lead vocalist Ricky Warwick, keyboard player Darren Wharton and JUDAS PRIEST drummer Scott Travis, for five European festival performances in the summer of 2016, as well as an appearance on the Rock Legends V cruise in January 2017.

Tom said: "I went to see MOTÖRHEAD with my son one night and after the show, we were able to spend a lot of time with Lemmy, who was so great to us. We got to meet his band. His drummer was Mikkey Dee. A few months later, he got in touch with me and said he was going to be playing with THIN LIZZY on a tour to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of [THIN LIZZY leader] Phil Lynott's death. He said they were looking for a bass player and if I wanted the gig, it was mine. I knew in my heart there was no way I would say no, although it would be the first time I ever did something outside of AEROSMITH, so I had some butterflies. I had done some minor things outside of my day job, but never a tour.

"A few months after that, after studying my ass off learning the songs, I was in London for the first day of rehearsals," he continued. "I thought I had the songs down, but I was a little behind the curve. Damon Johnson, who is now a great friend of mine, was playing guitar. He and I got together one on one the next day and he helped me get polished. What a great guy!

"From then on, rehearsals went better and better and then we were off to our first gig. We played five or six big festivals in Europe and it was a blast. I loved playing 'The Boys are Back in Town' and 'Whiskey In A Jar'.

"After the festivals, we played on a cruise which was an entirely new experience that I really enjoyed.

"Unfortunately, I never met Phil Lynott. Learning his songs gave me an immense amount of respect for what he accomplished musically."

As previously reported, Hamilton's new band CLOSE ENEMIES has signed with TLG|ROCK for management and label services. CLOSE ENEMIES debut single, "Sound Of A Train", will be released on January 17 and will be distributed through Virgin Music Group.

Joining the 72-year-old Hamilton in the new group his bass tech Trace Foster, who plays guitar in CLOSE ENEMIES alongside Peter Stroud, who has been playing with Sheryl Crow for 25 years. CLOSE ENEMIES' drummer is Tony Brock, who had a band called THE BABYS and then played with Rod Stewart for 12 years. Fronting CLOSE ENEMIES is Chasen Hampton, a performer from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with a strong background in the country music scene. CLOSE ENEMIES is also working with "a great lyricist" named Gary Stier.

The members of AEROSMITH made the announcement that they were retiring from touring on August 2, 2024 — nearly one year after singer Steven Tyler fractured his larynx during a September 2023 show.

The "Peace Out" tour came to a halt after what turned out to be a final gig in Elmont, New York on September 9, 2023. That show came just three dates into the trek, which was supposed to last through February 2024. Tyler said in a statement at the time that the injury caused bleeding but that he hoped he and his AEROSMITH bandmates would be back on the road after postponing a few shows.

The rescheduled "Peace Out" tour was due to begin September 20, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with special guests THE BLACK CROWES.

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY appears to have entered the studio to begin recording its long-awaited follow-up to 2018's "No Cross No Crown" album.

Earlier today, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY took to social media to share a photo from the recording studio, and it included the following message: "It has begun".

Last October, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY recruited onetime DOWN guitarist and current PANTERA bass tech Bobby Landgraf to play bass for CORROSION OF CONFORMITY on the 2024 edition of the Headbangers Boat cruise.

In September 2024, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY's founding bassist Mike Dean announced his departure from the band.

Dean revealed his decision to leave CORROSION OF CONFORMITY in a statement posted on social media. He wrote: "Recently I made a decision to step away from CORROSION OF CONFORMITY, a band started 40-odd years ago by Reed Mullin, Woody Weatherman, and myself.

"I'm extremely proud of everything we've done together, and look forward to hearing more from the band going forward.

"When I rejoined COC for the finishing touches of the 'Deliverance' album, I moved back to Raleigh, NC for an all-in creative campaign, but time, distance and side projects and life in general has changed all of that.

"Ever since Reed drifted away from the band and then passed away, it's been difficult for me to collaborate on new material with bandmates who live hundreds of miles away.

"I look forward to putting together a new Raleigh-based outlet to create new music with more alacrity and with more of an emphasis on my own ideas than in recent times. Also, I look forward to continuing to record and produce other artists.

"All the best to Woodroe, Pepper, and COC crew, and most importantly, many big thanks to the fans of all iterations of the band, who have made this real for all of these years. Salute!"

The remaining members of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY — Pepper Keenan (vocals, guitar) and Woodroe "Woody" Weatherman (guitar) — added in a separate statement: "We, Woodroe and Pepper, are in full support of Dean's future endeavors and wish him all the best in the quest. Thankful for the music made and (R)evolutionary paths created. That being said, this book of CORROSION is not finished, nor will the train stop.

"The opportunity to play music and create is something that we don't take lightly, and we will not waver. New COC recording is well underway and will be released in 2025.

"Much love and respect to all the free thinkin' beer drinkin' friends and fans worldwide, looking to making more. Without you, we are just growing deaf in a garage."

Two years ago, CORROSION OF CONFORMITY confirmed the return of drummer Stanton Moore for its upcoming album.

Mullin died in January 2020 at the age of 53. The drummer, who co-founded CORROSION OF CONFORMITY in 1982 as a hardcore punk act alongside Weatherman and Dean, had missed a number of shows in the preceding four years due to a variety of health issues, including an alcohol-related seizure he suffered back in June 2016.

In 2014, after nearly a straight decade traversing the globe as a guitarist with New Orleans supergroup DOWN, Pepper reconnected with the core CORROSION OF CONFORMITY trio of Weatherman, Dean and Mullin to hit the road hard. "Reed called me and mentioned maybe playing a couple shows," Keenan recalled back in 2017. "I said, 'Let's just go to Europe and see if it works.' So we went to Europe and then ended up going back four times in one year... We toured for a year and then started tracking."

CORROSION OF CONFORMITY recorded "No Cross No Crown" in about forty days over the course of a year at a North Carolina studio with longtime producer John Custer.

Photo credit: Dean Karr (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)

It has begun

Posted by Corrosion Of Conformity on Thursday, January 9, 2025

Acclaimed Canadian rock band SILVERSTEIN has shared a brand new single "Don't Let Me Get Too Low". Fans can check out the accompanying music video below.

Comments SILVERSTEIN frontman Shane Told: "'Don't Let Me Get Too Low' blends our classic sound with our pop-punk and also our hardcore influences. It's a song that is hard to describe because it does so much in under three minutes. The video was a lot of fun to film, we were in the middle of the desert outside Las Vegas and I was digging my own grave with a big smile on my face. Luckily no cops showed up to ask us what we were doing, that might have been hard to explain."

SILVERSTEIN guitarist Paul Marc Rousseau adds: "Sometimes the only person that can save you from yourself is… yourself? That's what the lyrics say, anyway. If you watch the video, it's actually the opposite. Either way, though, we had a great time making this song. Some of it came to us quickly, but a few parts kicked our ass for a while. I lowkey kind of love when the whole room is just grinding out like 10 seconds of music for two hours, though. It feels like the most important thing in the world but also so absurd at the same time. That's the thing with writing something this short: you have to make sure every second serves a purpose, and I think we accomplished that here. Zero wasted seconds. 100% banger."

"Don't Let Me Get Too Low" is taken from SILVERSTEIN's forthcoming album, "Antibloom", the first part of the band's double album "Antibloom" / "Pink Moon". The records were written in the deserts of Joshua Tree and represent the band's most eclectic and prolific body of work to date. "Antibloom" will see its release on February 21, 2025 via UNFD, with "Pink Moon" to follow later in the year.

This year, fans around the world are invited to join SILVERSTEIN in celebrating their "silver" anniversary with the "25 Years Of Noise" tour. Kicking off tomorrow in North America, the first leg will feature support from THURSDAY, ARM'S LENGTH and SPLIT CHAIN. Following the month-long run, SILVERSTEIN will bring the tour to Europe alongside THURSDAY, THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS and BLOOM. These shows will offer a discography-spanning performance and fans will be able to vote for their favorite songs from each record to help decide the setlist.

SILVERSTEIN enters its 25th year with two full-length albums set for 2025. The band that NME calls "legendary" and Loudwire placed among the most prolific rock and metal artists of the 21st Century continues to innovate and inspire on forward-thinking records and at crowd-embracing live shows.

"Discovering The Waterfront" (2005) remains a touchstone classic. "A Beautiful Place To Drown" (2020) earned a "Rock Album Of The Year" nomination at the Juno Awards. "Antibloom" (arriving in February) and "Pink Moon" (arriving later in 2025) are stunning reminders of why the group is a vital subcultural force and why Alternative Press readers voted frontman Shane Told among the five best post-hardcore vocalists.

SILVERSTEIN songs like "My Heroine", "Smile in Your Sleep", "The Afterglow" and "Infinite" are postmodern anthems for a devoted following earned with passionate performances and authentic artistry. As recently as 2024, The Needle Drop called them "emo hardcore legends." While their 500-million-plus streams reflect that, SILVERSTEIN grew up in a scene where the music and message come first.

Audiences sing and scream along in packed theaters, at festivals, and on tours around the world with groups like SIMPLE PLAN, RISE AGAINST, GOOD CHARLOTTE, PIERCE THE VEIL, BEARTOOTH and UNDEROATH.

Sam Guaiana (NECK DEEP, HOLDING ABSENCE, BAYSIDE) produced and mixed "Antibloom" and "Pink Moon" at Fireside Sound in Joshua Tree, California. The band arrived with 25 demos and chose their 16 favorites. Drummer Paul Koehler suggested splitting the music into two albums and turning 2025 into a year-long celebration. This will allow listeners the space to absorb and connect with the songs, which embrace the band's storied past and postmodern leanings in equal measure, making for diverse experiences.

"We put everything we've learned/felt/experienced into this double album," the band said in a shared statement, declaring "Antibloom" and "Pink Moon" "the absolute collection of our musical style."

SILVERSTEIN is:

Shane Told - Vocals
Paul Koehler - Drums
Josh Bradford - Guitar
Billy Hamilton - Bass
Paul Marc Rousseau - Guitar

"Antibloom" track listing:

01. Mercy Mercy
02. Don't Let Me Get Too Low
03. Confession
04. A Little Fight
05. Skin & Bones
06. I Will Destroy This
07. Stress
08. Cherry Coke

Photo credit: Wyatt Clough

In a new interview with Rock Hard With Phil And Tish, DROWNING POOL and SOIL frontman Ryan McCombs opened up about how music distribution has changed over the years, and what it really means for artists' livelihoods. He said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Just on a business sense, yeah, I would love to go back to the days of the hard, tangible album in hand, 'cause that's still what I love. The industry was healthier then.

"People sometimes, they don't take the time to understand there's a reason why there isn't as many bands today as there was back in the day, and that has a lot to do with the fact that there isn't the number of labels anymore that there used to be," he continued.

"I was talking to somebody — this is, like, 20 years ago, I'm talking to a fan online; actually, it was longer than that 'cause it was during the whole Napster thing — and they were complaining about the METALLICA stance on it. And I said, 'Well, okay, for one second,' I said, 'What does your dad do?' And this individual happened to be — it was perfect — he happened to be from Michigan, and his dad was an auto worker, which isn't much there anymore. So you can definitely probably relate nowadays. I said, 'Now, tomorrow, if everybody, not just in your town, but if everybody in the world, can go to your dad's plant and drive off the lot with a car and not pay for it, how long is your dad going to be employed?' Because the auto plant has to make money from the sales of the car in order to employ the employee who is making the car. I said, 'Just like the label has to make money from the sales of the music in order to employ the musician. It's the same thing.' And it wasn't until I broke it down like that, that the guy was, like, 'Oh, yeah.' The black and white was too right there in your face to where you never really sat down and thought about the big picture of it. At the end of the day, it's just a business. And if the employer isn't making his money, then he's not gonna be able to employ the employees. And that's what the label and band relationship is and was. So, when that went away, when people started being able to go to the car lot and drive off the lot with a free car, that meant bands weren't sticking around anymore. The labels didn't have the same stick-to-itiveness with bands because they just couldn't afford to."

Ryan added: "I don't wanna come across like I'm crying, 'cause I'm not. I'm appreciative to still be allowed to do this and I'm appreciative that we're still here. We've been able to weather that storm to this point. But it is night and day to the industry that I grew up getting a chance to dance in at first."

Reflecting on the days when listening to an album was an event, a dedicated experience that demanded a listener's full attention, Ryan said: "It was the best. I mean, sometimes you didn't even drive away from the music store. You sat in your car and you had to pull out the inlay and you not only were going through the lyrics as you're listening to the cassette or the CD in your car, but I loved reading the thanks list and everything about it. That was part of it all. And I regret that there's been many, many generations already that will never experience that side of it."

DROWNING POOL's latest single, "Revolution (The Final Amen)", was released on September 20 via SBG Records.

"Revolution (The Final Amen)" marks the first piece of music guitarist C.J. Pierce, bassist Stevie Benton and drummer Mike Luce have completed with McCombs in 13 years.

The "Revolution (The Final Amen)" video was filmed at El Paso, Texas's Speaking Rock Entertainment Center.

McCombs played his first shows back with DROWNING POOL in March 2023 at Club L.A. in Destin, Florida and at the inaugural Throwdown At The Campground festival in Fruitland Park, Florida.

The longtime SOIL frontman, who has lived in Swindon, England since 2018, originally joined DROWNING POOL in 2005 and appeared on two of the band's studio albums, "Full Circle" (2007) and "Drowning Pool" (2010),as well as a live album, 2009's "Loudest Common Denominator". He rejoined SOIL after exiting DROWNING POOL in 2011.

McCombs is continuing to front SOIL and will carry on recording and performing with both bands.

DROWNING POOL's debut album, "Sinner", was certified platinum within six weeks of its release in 2001, while the CD's first single, "Bodies", was one of the most frequently aired videos on MTV by a new band. DROWNING POOL reached out to an ever-greater audience with dynamic performances at Wrestlemania XVIII and Ozzfest during the summers of 2001 and 2002. Unfortunately, their streak of success was not to last. Shortly after rousing the crowd at Ozzfest in Indianapolis, Indiana, on August 3, 2002, vocalist Dave "Stage" Williams was found dead of natural causes on the tour bus.

In a recent interview with Metal Pilgrim, STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet was asked if he would ever be open to using backing tracks to enhance the band's live performances. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, we use some backing tracks now. No lead vocals. Back in the past, there were times when there were certain lead vocals, double lines, harmony lines that were there. I don't like doing that."

He continued: "Here's my take on tracks: as long as the band is performing all their parts live and they're really singing with any backing tracks you have for background vocals… Like when we have some background vocals, say on 'Yahweh', we've got that giant chorus… Perry [Richardson, STRYPER bassist] and Oz [Fox, STRYPER guitarist] are singing with that, but if it was just them, it would sound absolutely pathetic and ridiculous, and it would be silly and we probably wouldn't do the song. So you need some help with certain backing tracks, having a big production like STRYPER on certain songs. And I mentioned in an interview, imagine QUEEN doing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' without any tracks. It would be silly. It wouldn't sound right. But I do think you can cross the line when you start having lead vocals, lead guitar solos — that's just too much, man. And you need to re-evaluate yourself as a musician at that point in time. And I feel like you really are kind of deceiving the fans, and you need to be cautious of that, going down that road."

Sweet previously talked about STRYPER's use of backing tracks more than five years ago in an interview with MA Entertainment Global. He said at the time: "I'm going to be honest — we do use some [backing] tracks on a few songs like 'Yahweh', [where] we have these big vocals to start the song and we have these big choruses that [sound] like a choir. We still sing, always. We never, ever go up and lip sync and fake it. We're always singing on stage, but we do have some tracks that help us. Another song is 'God', which isn't in the set right now. We have a track on 'Honestly', because that's a piano ballad and we don't travel with a keyboard player these days. Things like that.

"I try to be open and honest, and I don't want people thinking that we're not using those if we are," Sweet continued. "I come from the school of, 'It's okay if it's done right.' In other words, if it's there to enhance what's already there, or if you've got some huge production... I'm okay with that. I'm okay when it's done right and it's limited, just to enhance certain things on certain songs. But when you have bands that go out and literally it's every song, and they're up there and they're not even singing the background vocals — because there are bands that do that. They're up there mouthing it, and then you get into the mouthing of the lead vocals on every song, and you're thinking, 'Man, there has to be a line that's drawn.' You've got to be real cautious of that, or it's not live — you're not giving people a live experience."

Even with the backing tracks, Sweet believes that STRYPER's concert performances are "live." "I would go out on a limb and say that we're in the category of one of the most live bands that you'll see now," he told. "Like I said, we've got a few tracks on a few songs just to enhance, but we're up there playing live. We're banging it out, doing it live, night after night."

STRYPER's latest studio album, "When We Were Kings", came out in September.

The band recently completed a 40th-anniversary tour, which was described as "a celebration of both classic hits and new-era fan favorites, including outfit changes and an exciting new show production."

In December 2023, Michael underwent partial thyroidectomy, the surgery to remove part of his thyroid gland. It is the most common surgery for thyroid cancer.

Formed 41 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

STRYPER's other albums include "To Hell With The Devil", "Second Coming", "No More Hell To Pay", "Fallen", "God Damn Evil", "Even The Devil Believes" and "The Final Battle".

In a recent interview with Rockum TV, Gene Hoglan spoke about his involvement with DEATH TO ALL (DTA) — which features former members of DEATH celebrating the life and music of Chuck Schuldiner. The current lineup of DEATH TO ALL includes Hoglan (also of DARK ANGEL and DETHKLOK),Steve DiGiorgio (TESTAMENT, CONTROL DENIED, SADUS) on bass and Bobby Koelble on guitar. Max Phelps (CYNIC),who has been touring with DEATH TO ALL, is once again handling the vocal and second-guitar duties.

Asked how important it is to him personally to keep Schuldiner's legacy alive through DEATH TO ALL, Gene said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Chuck was our friend. He was our metal brother. He was taken too early. I mean, the man was 34 years old when he was taken from us. We're 56 now, a couple of us, and that is too young to be taken from the earth. So Chuck being gone and therefore kind of essentially not able to produce any more new music, because he was going down before he left this earth, so us being able to keep his musical legacy alive, the music of DEATH, getting to play DEATH's music for people… We hear it all the time. Some of the guys roughly in our age bracket are, like, 'I saw DEATH back in the day, my favorite band. I thought I would never get to see them ever again. And thank you guys for doing this.' And we also have a legion of young fans.

"The future of death metal, the future of DEATH or DEATH TO ALL is in good hands because there are so many young folks out there going, 'I wasn't around when DEATH was doing their thing. So when you guys were doing your thing back in the day, I wasn't even born, but I'm huge DEATH fan now. I've discovered them through' whichever album they discovered. 'And the fact that we get to see you guys, this is the next best thing.'"

Referencing the fact that DEATH TO ALL's recent "The Scream Of Perserverance Tour" featured unique two-night stints in multiple cities, where the first night was an old-school, brutal night featuring, in its entirety, the album which started the DEATH legacy, "Scream Bloody Gore", as well as classic tunes from "Leprosy" and "Spiritual Healing", while the second night featured the finishing touch in DEATH's history, "The Sound Of Perseverance", as well as timeless classics from the technical and more melodic era of DEATH, "Human", "Individual Thought Patterns" and "Symbolic", Hoglan said: "We do this well — DEATH TO ALL does this well, I'll flat-out tell you, and the ability to be able to play all the material is important to us. That's why us doing nights like these, where we play the entirety of the old catalog and then the second night we play the entirety of the newer catalog, more recent catalog, that's important to us to help keep Chuck's music alive.

"It could be like, 'Stevie D., you played on 'Human', Stevie D., you and me played on 'Individual'. Bobby, you and I played on 'Symbolic', so we're just gonna play those three albums there.' That doesn't do this any kind of service — to just concentrate on three records that we played on, that's rather abhorrent to me. That makes zero sense to me. So, we can do it all and nobody plays like we do. So that's why it's important to us to honor the entirety of Chuck's music, Chuck's catalog.

"As it was put to me by Christopher Steele, who is Chuck's nephew, back in the day, and he's involved in the DEATH official socials, when I was talking to him about this whole thing sometime back, and I had mentioned that it's important to us to be able to keep Chuck's music alive," Gene recalled. "[I said to him], 'This is Chuck's musical legacy, and his music is very important and his legacy is very important.' And Chris stopped me. He's, like, 'That is killer. We love seeing that. However, you've gotta remember, this is also you guys' musical legacy as well. You guys were very important to DEATH being what it was and what it is.' And I was, like, 'My God, nobody's ever put it like that. Thank you, Chris.' I was really touched when he said, 'Hey, let's just take a moment and talk about you guys' influence on the band and you guys' impact on the music of DEATH.' And so I was, like, 'Wow, that is really, really cool. Thank you, Chris. That was very nice to hear.' And so that's one thing we also try to remember.

"On 'Individual Thought Patterns' there, I was trying to create drum beats that had never been heard before, and trying to leave my impact on the world of drumming, the world of metal, the world of death metal, the world of music in general," Gene added. "That was important to me. I wasn't thinking about it at the time, but it became important afterwards. Like, 'Hey, I've never heard this beat before.' When I'm trying to come up with beats, it's, like, 'Well, nobody's ever played that one before. Throw that in there.' 'Hey, Chuck, can you play over this?' And Chuck's, like, 'I'm good. Everything you're throwing at me, I can play my riffs over. So, don't sweat that. That's all good.' And so it's our musical legacy to some degree as well. So we're really happy to come out and celebrate DEATH, the music of DEATH. How cool is that?"

Schuldiner died on December 13, 2001 after a battle with pontine glioma, a rare type of brain tumor.

In recent years, DEATH's storied catalog has undergone a meticulous reissue campaign via Relapse Records.

Relapse released the first-ever fully authorized DEATH tab book, featuring 21 classic songs tabbed out for guitar from the band's entire discography. The book, which includes traditional notation as well as tablature, also comes with a digital download of all tracks.

During an appearance on the "Lipps Service With Scott Lipps" podcast, SLAYER's Kerry King reflected on his first time seeing METALLICA back in 1982. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I saw 'em with [then-METALLICA guitarist Dave] Mustaine. And we opened for them. I think Mustaine was still in the band, at the place we used to frequent called the Woodstock [in Anaheim, California].

"When I first saw 'em with Mustaine, I was sitting kind of between [METALLICA frontman] James [Hetfield] and [then-METALLICA bassist Ron] McGovney in where the audience is, and I was just blown away watching Mustaine just ripping on guitar and not even looking at his fingers. I'm, like, 'I can't do that.' And to this day, he's a badass guitar player. But that's what I walked away from METALLICA [thinking]. And he wrote tons of the riffs in the early days. So, when he branched off into MEGADETH, a lot of the riffs went with him."

Asked if he was thinking at that point that he wanted to do what METALLICA was doing, but "turn it to 11, just turn it up a notch", Kerry replied: "No, it didn't have anything to do with seeing them doing it, 'cause we'd already known [about pioneering U.K. extreme metal band] VENOM and we were in the process of morphing what we had to that point to punky, VENOM, MOTÖRHEAD — kind of what they did before us. But seeing them, it's, like… And even when they were — I mean, they're a Southern California band, as much as they like to be called a [San Francisco] Bay Area band, they're from Southern Cal. Sorry. But they had streamlined everything, and we were still working it out. But we went a far darker route than they did. And then they became the biggest metal band on the planet."

Kerry also talked about his current relationship with the members of METALLICA, including Mustaine. He said: "Mustaine's cool, but Mustaine's one of those guys that he can't help but stick his foot in his mouth. So, I'll take my 20 minutes and I'll bolt just before anything gets uncomfortable.

"It's funny, James is one of those guys, even though we've got basically the same career, different circles, we did the [shows featuring the] 'Big Four' [of 1980s thrash metal], he made a point to come say 'hey' to us, but it's funny that it hasn't occurred in the 40 years we've both been doing this that I've rarely seen James," Kerry continued. "Kirk's [Hammett, METALLICA guitarist] cool, Rob's [METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo] cool, Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] is cool. We hang out when they feel like hanging out. Yeah, that's all of 'em."

Last fall, King was asked during a question-and-answer session with readers of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine whom he would pick if he could have been in any other band. Kerry responded: "I was almost in MEGADETH. I think if myself and Dave Mustaine could have co-existed for four years, it would have been a very different band. I'm not saying I'd have made them better — I'd have made them different."

Kerry previously talked about his brief involvement with MEGADETH during the band's early days — King played MEGADETH's first five shows as the band's second guitarist) — in a 2015 interview with Loudwire's "Wikipedia: Fact Or Fiction?" signature series. Kerry said at the time: "I was one of the lucky people — and there's certainly no offense against [current METALLICA guitarist] Kirk Hammett; Kirk's a wonderful friend of mine — but I was lucky enough to see METALLICA with Mustaine. And I say that because it's just a rare thing to be able to say that. I saw them play with Woodstock [in Los Angeles], and I was so intringued by Mustaine, because he was just ripping on guitar and looking out that way somewhere. And I can't do that to this fuckin day. So I was just blown away at his guitar playing. And to find out — I think it was through B.C. Rich, 'cause we all played B.C. Rich back then… I think it was through B.C. Rich I found out that Dave was inquiring if I would play [with MEGADETH]."

He continued: "At the end of the day, I thought, 'This is a gigantic learning situation.' And I also thought people would see me and know me from SLAYER. 'Cause, I mean, we only went to the Bay Area; we only got up there. So I think if people saw me, it would at least make 'em think, 'SLAYER.' So I had SLAYER's best intentions in mind. I didn't go and say, 'Hey, I wanna be in MEGADETH.' I don't know how anybody can be in MEGADETH for more than a couple of hours, 'cause that guy's crazy."

Asked if he had any particularly bad experiences dealing with Mustaine in the early days of MEGADETH, Kerry said: "He was cooler back then. I think there's been a lot of drugs and funny extracurriculars between now and then that helped shape who he is today. But it was good times back then. Playing all the venues SLAYER played and just… I don't know… playing different music. His stuff is definitely more… I wouldn't say 'intricate,' 'cause we've got intricate parts too, but it's just… He writes riffs in a very different perspective than I… Even after playing with him for a number of months, I'd still… I wouldn't do it; it's just not my style."

More recently, King joined MEGADETH on stage in October 2010 at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California to perform MEGADETH's classic "Rattlehead". You can see video of that performance below.
EARLY ACCESS: Kerry King of Slayer on new album! the "big four"! Beastie Boys! and weird fan autograph requests! by Scott Lipps

Here's my interview with the thrash metal guitarist. Available a week early, only on Substack.

Read on Substack

Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger of Grammy-winning hard rock band HALESTORM kicked off their "Halestorm's Lzzy And Joe: The Living Room Sessions" tour Wednesday night (January 8) at The Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan. The 12-date intimate trek features Lzzy and Joe performing acoustic, stripped down versions of HALESTORM favorites and the music that has inspired the band.

Fan-filmed video of the Flint concert can be seen below.

The setlist was as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

01. Bet U Wish U Had Me Back
02. Bad Romance (Lady Gaga cover)
03. I Get Off
04. I Am The Fire
05. Break In
06. Familiar Taste Of Poison
07. I Like It Heavy
08. Mz. Hyde
09. Dear Daughter
10. White Dress
11. Gold Dust Woman (FLEETWOOD MAC cover)
12. Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (JOURNEY cover)
13. Do Not Disturb
14. I Miss the Misery
15. Here's to Us
16. I Remember You (SKID ROW cover)
17. Love Bites (So Do I)
18. Freak Like Me

When "Halestorm's Lzzy And Joe: The Living Room Sessions" was first announced last October, Lzzy said in a statement: "With this tour, we're inviting our fans to experience what it would be like hanging with Joe and me in our living room: picking up instruments, telling stories, chatting about songs that helped shaped us as a band and brought us to where we are today."

Joe added: "Back when we decided to quit our day jobs and make music our full-time endeavor, Lzzy and I would play music wherever we could, and sometimes that meant playing acoustic covers in any bar or restaurant that would have us. That time really allowed us to develop our playing skills and dig into songwriting, and it really set the groundwork for what HALESTORM is today."

In a September 2024 interview with PK of Louisville, Kentucky's ALT 105.1 radio station, Lzzy spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for HALESTORM's follow-up to 2022's "Back From The Dead" album. Lzzy said: "We've had three separate sessions in the studio with — we're making a record with [producer] Dave Cobb. And he's actually a huge closet metal fan, and so he's really excited. And so we're making this great music, but we're constantly touring. So we've had, like, three different sessions in the studio. We're probably — what? — 70, 80, maybe, percent there. We have a studio in our house and so I'm doing a lot of the finishing touches on vocals and sewing everything up, doing solos and all that. And then we get back in in December to just say, 'Okay, this is good.' And then, yeah. And then there we are. So we're excited about it. We really are."

Cobb has shared in nine Grammy wins, including four for "Best Americana Album" and three for "Best Country Album". He's also been named "Producer Of The Year" by the Country Music Awards, the Americana Music Association (twice) and the Music Row Awards, and has been a Grammy nominee in the category.

HALESTORM and I PREVAIL embarked on summer 2024 co-headlining tour. Produced by Live Nation, the trek kicked off on July 9 in Raleigh and ran through August 17 in Las Vegas. HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD and FIT FOR A KING served as support. The tour was also the catalyst and the creative spark for HALESTORM and I PREVAIL's collaborative track "Can U See Me In The Dark?", which was released in June 2024.

"Back From The Dead" has tallied over 100 million streams worldwide. Rolling Stone called the title track "a biting but cathartic howler about overcoming all obstacles," and that song as well as "The Steeple" marked their fifth and sixth number ones at rock radio, respectively. Associated Press said the album "will definitely be in the running for best hard rock/metal album of the year." Their previous album, "Vicious", earned the band their second Grammy nomination, for "Best Hard Rock Performance" for the song "Uncomfortable", the band's fourth #1 at rock radio, and led Loudwire to name HALESTORM "Rock Artist Of The Decade" in 2019.

Fronted by Lzzy with Arejay, Hottinger and bass player Josh Smith, HALESTORM's music has earned multiple platinum and gold certifications from the RIAA, and the band has earned a reputation as a powerful live music force, headlining sold-out shows and topping festival bills around the world, and sharing the stage with icons including HEAVEN & HELL, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett and JUDAS PRIEST. Additionally, Lzzy was named the first female brand ambassador for Gibson and served as host of AXS TV's "A Year In Music".

Memphis May Fire - Matty Mullins (vocals), Kellen McGregor (guitar), Cory Elder (bass), and Jake Garland (drums) - spent much of 2024 dropping brand new singles, each of which was more incendiary than the next. At the end of the year, they announced their new album Shapeshifter, which arrives March 28 via longtime label Rise Records.


They have just shared the video for the new song "Overdose." It features a guest appearance from Blindside vocalist Christian Lindskog. Watch it below.


"'Overdose' is about the intoxicating nature of extremes — how easy it is to get addicted to the highs of life, no matter the consequences," Mullins explains. "It's a song for anyone who's ever pushed boundaries too far, chased the rush, and grappled with the fallout. Christian Lindskog has always been a bucket list guest vocalist for me and it's an absolute honor to have his iconic style gracing this track."







Shapeshifter, out March 28 via Rise Records, is available to pre-order here.





Shapeshifter tracklisting:


"Chaotic"
"Infection"
"Overdose"
"Paralyzed"
"Hell Is Empty"
"Necessary Evil"
"The Other Side"
"Shapeshifter"
"Versus"

Swedish supergroup Ginevra - comprised of vocalist Kristian Fyhr (Seventh Crystal), guitarist Magnus Karlsson (The Ferrymen, Primal Fear), bassist Jimmy Jay (H.E.A.T.), and drummer Magnus Ulfstedt (ex-Eclipse, Nordic Union) - are thrilled to announce the release of their new studio album, Beyond Tomorrow, out March 28 via Frontiers Music Srl.


The band also share the new single and accompanying video, “Moonlight”, available now. Watch the clip below.


Lead singer Kristian Fyhr comments on the new single, by saying that, “it tells a story about fighting inner demons— losing yourself to something uncontrollably while pretending it will all go away.”







Talking about the record, Fyhr adds: “The whole album covers a higher cause without being biblical or political. We are all meant to bring the best of what we have into daily situations and life. We have approximately eighty years to leave a mark here on Earth, so we better make it count.”


Beyond Tomorrow is Ginevra's sophomore album, which comes less than three years after the exciting debut album We Belong To The Stars.


The group came to be after Kristian Fyhr sent Serafino Perugino, the label’s President, some songs he had written for consideration to be used on future Frontiers' label projects. One particular song, “My Rock N' Roll” jumped out at Perugino and he asked Fyhr if he would be interested in fronting a new band that would craft an entire album in a musical direction illustrated in that song, which was substantially different from Fyhr's main band Seventh Crystal.


The final results brought Ginevra's sound under the same big umbrella of excellent Nordic melodic hard rock like H.E.A.T, Eclipse, Crowne, without necessarily sounding like those bands. Ginevra is hooky and melodic, but mostly heavier and more guitar/riff oriented than traditional melodic rock.


Perugino thought that Magnus Karlsson, who contributed to the songwriting for the album as well, seemed the perfect fit to play guitar for Ginevra and when approached about participating, he was keen on the idea.


With a powerful vocalist like Fyhr and a monster guitarist like Magnus Karlsson, whose resume speaks for itself, a top notch rhythm section needed to join the fold. Jona Tee, musician and producer for New Horizon, Crowne, and Temple Balls, recommended his H.E.A.T. bandmate Jimmy Jay for the bass position and he was the perfect fit.


For the drum stool, Magnus Ulfstedt, who has played with Eclipse, Nordic Union, and Jimi Jamison, was asked to join the band and complete this excellent Swedish foursome.


The pairing of Fhyr's vocal and songwriting talents with Karlsson's stunning guitar playing and songwriting has birthed something tr

ccessful rock bands, is back, unveiling their electrifying new single “The Game” – a future radio hit infused with gritty guitar riffs, soaring melodies and powerful vocals leading the way.


Ever since their start in 1999 and breaking onto the scene with their first album, tAKiDA has become one of Sweden’s top-notch exports, ruling the Swedish rock scene with six platinum singles (one of them 4x platinum), three platinum albums and no less than five #1 albums. But tAKiDA are also making waves beyond the borders of their home country. Their most recent studio album, The agony flame (2024), marks their most successful entry onto the German album charts (#8) yet, while the album’s first single, “The loneliest hour”, hit #1 on the German Rock Airplay Charts.              


Following their previous successes, tAKiDA continues to push boundaries and solidify their acclaim. With “The Game”, tAKiDA kicks off the new year and dives deep into themes of passion, inner conflict, and unfiltered emotion, perfectly showcased through its evocative lyrics and explosive sound. In Summer 2025, tAKiDA will bring their matchless stage performance to several German cities, starting on July 18 in Regensburg. Get your tickets now and explore “The Game” – now available on all streaming services worldwide.