11-year-old guitarist Maya Neelakantan from Chennai, India, who has gone viral for her "America's Got Talent" audition, joined EXODUS on stage on Monday, November 4 at the House Of Blues in Orlando, Florida to perform the EXODUS song "Brain Dead". Fan-filmed video of her appearance can be seen below.

This past August, Neelakantan went viral again for her rendition of METALLICA's "Master Of Puppets" at the "America's Got Talent" quarterfinals. The young guitarist had previously covered PAPA ROACH's "Last Resort" in front of a packed live audience at the "America's Got Talent" auditions.

Maya recently hung out with SLAYER and EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt. In addition, TOOL guitarist Adam Jones gifted her one of his own signature Gibson Les Pauls after coming across her rendition of TOOL's 16-minute masterpiece "7empest". In 2023 she went viral after playing a mashup of 22 TOOL songs all in one take.

"I have been listening to SLAYER, METALLICA, SLIPKNOT, EXODUS and LAMB OF GOD ever since I was two years old," she said. "I loved thrash metal because of how energetic it sounded. Every time it was playing, I always jumped up and down."

As for how she envisions her own music, Maya said: "My dream is to create a genre of my own. Something that merges all of my musical interests together. It'll be a combination of extreme thrash metal and intricate Carnatic music in its traditional form. And it will be something as crafted as TOOL music."

In September, Maya joined TESTAMENT on stage at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas, Nevada to perform the TESTAMENT song "Curse Of The Legions Of Death (C.O.T.L.O.D.)".

In a new interview with Brocarde, former MOTÖRHEAD and current PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS guitarist Phil Campbell spoke about concertgoers using cell phones to take photos and videos of performances and sometimes filming entire shows instead of enjoying the moment. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "As soon as we get on stage, you see all the phones coming up. And I don't mind somebody filming a little bit — you know, half a song. You get people, and I see them and they've been there, they're expressionless and they've been there the entire show. They haven't moved a limb. And stuff like that really pisses me off. You should live in the moment. And it's off-putting as well. I much preferred it when people couldn't be just filming. And the quality's crap anyway. I'd rather see them tapping their feet or anything… You walk on stage and automatically everyone — the cameras come up, phones. You gotta be in the moment. You gotta be there. It's important."

Back in May 2018, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna spoke out against cell-phone use at concerts, saying that there's "something really magical that happens when" you are not experiencing live performances through a "little four-inch screen."

A number of other musicians have come out in recent years to say that mobile technology is ruining the concert experience, including SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor. He told "Loudwire Nights" that "it's fine" if people want to take pictures of his bands' shows, but not so much if they are videotaping entire performances. "It's one thing to film it, it's another thing to just be staring at your screen while you're filming it," he said. "It's right there. Are you so terrified of real life that you can't do anything unless it's on that little four-by-four screen? Ugggh. It's very weird."

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach in 2015 urged fans to keep their cell phones at the bottom of their pockets and just watch his performances. "Be in the moment," he said. "You're distracted and it's distracting to the performer as well. Like, put your fuckin' cell phone away, dammit! You're never even going to watch that footage."

The overuse of cellphones to capture grainy, blurry photos and videos at concerts has for years vexed and enraged artists like Bach, who lamented the fact that every one of his performances could be recorded and shared on YouTube almost immediately.

"If I go to a wedding and sing a song, it's on Blabbermouth the next day and everybody analyzes it," said Bach. "It's a really backwards way to watch a band. It's a drag sometimes when I go up there and the first thing I see is everybody getting their phones out and holding them toward my face. It makes you feel intimidated."

Back in 2012, Bruce Dickinson chastised a fan for texting during an IRON MAIDEN concert, calling him a "wanker."

When Axl Rose reunited with his former GUNS N' ROSES bandmates, Duff McKagan and Slash, for the first time in 23 years at the Troubadour in Los Angeles in April 2016, the concert was phone-free.

During a November 8 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", '80s hard rock queen Lita Ford spoke about her long-awaited new studio album. Ford's upcoming follow-up to 2012's "Living Like A Runaway" was once again helmed by guitarist/producer Gary Hoey, who contributes some guitar playing to the disc. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We actually just have to master it, which takes a day. And that's it. I mean, it's pretty much done. But I've been working on this record with Hoey for a long time now. And I feel like a lot of the songs were in such a personal place, and I would never wanna go back and record those again. So what you're gonna hear from this record is the real deal. It came from the heart, it came from the soul. I feel like I had to live it before we could write it."

Regarding her working relationship with Gary, Lita said: "And Hoey is the greatest. He just captures stuff. And you start a sentence, and he finishes it. And we work very well together."

This past July, Ford told Joe Rock of Long Island's rock station 102.3 WBAB about her upcoming LP: "The studio, for me, has always been trying to teach everybody what I wanna hear. And a lot of that is because they basically don't know themselves as a producer or an engineer. I've had some of the greatest engineers and I've had some of the greatest producers, and this album — we're finished with it now — [was produced by] Gary Hoey. Gary Hoey is a great musician, great guitar player. And Gary and I — I can throw any idea at Gary, and he would try and make it happen. And the thing about being in the studio is you try and make things happen, and if they don't happen, then they don't happen. You can only try. And so we got real creative with guitars and we played — there's a lot of great guitars on this new record. I'm really excited about it."

Lita went on to say that the creation of her new album was completely in her control. "There were no songwriters that I had to work with because somebody else wanted me to work with them," she explained. "This is strictly Lita and what Lita wanted to do. And it's a concept record. There's a big story behind it. And so it's gonna open a lot of doors for a lot of things. And a lot of people are gonna be able to relate to this record. And it has some great musicians. Bobby Rock played drums on it. Jean Beauvoir wrote one of the songs with me. And it's just a great record. And Gary Hoey, of course, produced it. Max Norman, who mixed it — Max Norman did a lot of stuff for Ozzy [Osbourne] and MEGADETH, and he's just a metal guy. So it's all in the right hands. I've got all the badass people behind me. Got a new manager, and it's all good."

In May 2022, bassist Marten Andersson (STEELHEART, LIZZY BORDEN, LYNCH MOB) officially joined Lita's touring band. Andersson replaced Marty O'Brien who became the touring bassist for DAUGHTRY.

In a 2023 interview with "THAT Rocks!", the YouTube series hosted by Eddie Trunk, Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson, Lita stated about her next LP: "The problem is we've had so many things happen over the last few years. Our manager died; George Marshall died [in] '22. And then my songwriting partner died. And it's just been devastation. But we take all that pain and everything and we just put it right back into the album. And then we recorded the drum tracks in Minneapolis during Black Lives Matter and COVID. Everything was locked down and the place was boarded up and the guys had shotguns and Rottweilers. And then we went in and did drum tracks. And it was awesome. Just memories of just pure badassery."

Regarding what her plans are for live shows in support of her upcoming LP, Lita said: "Well, what I would like to do is put together a theatrical show, sort of like a rock guitar opera kind of thing. It's been done before and different bands have done it before, but I think in this case, it might be a little different and just to bring the whole show not to life just for audio, but for visual reasons also."

In January 2021, Lita told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that her new album contains "some of the best guitar playing" she has heard "in decades." She added: "And I'm not blowing smoke up my own ass, but Gary and I just nailed it with the guitar playing on this record.

"I'm a huge fan of people like Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter from Alice Cooper's 'Welcome To My Nightmare'. I mean, there's some really great duo guitar players — [JUDAS PRIEST's] Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing… Those guitar players don't exist anymore — they just don't exist. If you wanna hear them, you have to go back in time a little bit and dig them up into your favorite library, favorite music catalog. But I think Gary and I really nailed it on this next record. It's, like, oh my God. I'm crying — I'm just, like, crying listening to this stuff. It's so badass."

Ford's last release was 2016's "Time Capsule", a collection of songs that were recorded by Lita in the past, but never before made available.

Eight years ago, Lita released an autobiography, "Living Like A Runaway: A Memoir", via Dey Street Books (formerly It Books),an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

In a new interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, guitarist Oscar Dronjak of Swedish metallers HAMMERFALL weighed in on a debate about people using an A.I. (artificial intelligence) music generator as a tool to create melodies, harmonies and rhymes based on artificial intelligence (A.I.) algorithms and machine learning (M.L.) models. Oscar said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "What worries me is two things, actually. The first one is with A.I. more general, what can you believe after a while? Right now it's kind of easy to see the line, but it's getting blurrier and blurrier every day. And that is already a problem that is extremely big in today's society with news and shit. People just repost stuff without thinking, or they don't check what the source is. Just because it aligns in their little sphere of beliefs or whatever, they just push it out there and nobody bothers to check if it's true or not. And A.I. makes that a million times harder to spot, if it's true or not."

He continued: "As far as an artist, it does worry me in the sense that — 'cause if people say, 'I'm going to use it as a tool,' I think you lost the right to create songs, because then you're not coming up with anything. Even if somebody comes up with the idea, like in A.I., you put whatever in and they get, 'Oh, this was kind of a cool thing. I'm gonna steal that and say I wrote it.' I think that's gonna be very detrimental. And it also means that things are gonna sound more similar. They already are similar, but it's gonna be more and more similar because it's not infinite. So I'm actually very worried about that. I think as far as live shows go, okay, you can do a lot of shit now as well, but HAMMERFALL has always prided ourselves on being a rock and roll band, meaning that we play our instruments, we perform live and it's the energy that is the important part of the music and of the concerts. We always said, if you wanna have a flawlessly played concert or song, listen to the CD. Because the interaction between the audience and the band or the artists on stage, that is, for me, the whole concept on a heavy metal show. The live experience is the one thing you can't download."

When Botas noted that he is not interested in seeing ABBA's "Voyage" show in London, which was created using the same technology that is being used to produce the KISS avatars, Oscar said: "I see what you mean, and I agree with you with a band that I am not a super fan of, but a band that [I feel like] 'I don't care if it's a real thing or not, I can go see it,' then it would make sense. But for KISS, absolutely no way. I've seen 'em a million times. That's one of my favorite bands of all time, [it's] been [one of my favorite bands] since I was a kid. I'm not interested in seeing a A.I. KISS or whatever the thing they're planning — that doesn't have any allure for me at all."

The KISS avatars were created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and were financed and produced by the Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment, which is behind "ABBA Voyage".

KISS will reportedly become the first American band to go fully virtual and stage its own avatar show.

The avatars will be available for live shows around the world and in digital online settings, which some people collectively refer to as the metaverse.

HAMMERFALL's latest album, "Avenge The Fallen", was released in August via Nuclear Blast Records.

In December 2022, HAMMERFALL, which started its career in 1997 on Nuclear Blast with its debut album "Glory To The Brave", announced that it was returning to the long-running German label.

HAMMERFALL's entire Nuclear Blast catalog, from "Glory To The Brave" to the 2014 album "(r)Evolution" was certified with a diamond award for over 1.5 million worldwide sales.

Following on from "Renegade" (2000),"Crimson Thunder" (2002) and "No Sacrifice, No Victory" (2009),HAMMERFALL's fifth studio album, "Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" from 2005, became the band's fourth album to go gold in Sweden, while "Crimson Thunder" even went platinum, surpassing 60,000 sales in the group's home country.

In April 2023, HAMMERFALL released a special platinum edition of "Crimson Thunder" with tons of bonus material.

Photo credit: Tallee Savage (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)

In a new interview with That Metal Interview, CROWBAR frontman Kirk Windstein spoke about the status of DOWN, the long-running heavy metal supergroup in which he is joined by vocalist Philip H. Anselmo, guitarist Pepper Keenan, drummer Jimmy Bower and bassist Pat Bruders. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "I've been in DOWN world [for the last few months] kinda, writing with DOWN and finishing up the writing for the album that's [gonna come] out next year at some point… We've got 10 new songs, man. It's awesome."

DOWN played its rescheduled concert at Inn Of The Mountain Gods Resort And Casino in Mescalero, New Mexico on September 27. The band was originally supposed to perform at at Inn Of The Mountain Gods on June 20, but the show was called off due to a pair of rapidly growing wildfires which were converging on a village inside a tribal reservation in the state. As a result of the postponement, DOWN played two pop-up shows in Louisiana — on June 20 at Southport Hall in New Orleans and on June 21 at Varsity Theatre in Baton Rouge.

When DOWN's concert at Inn Of The Mountain Gods Resort And Casino was first announced in April, the band said that Windstein would sit out the show due to his commitments with CROWBAR. Filling in for him at the June gigs was former DOWN guitarist Bobby Landgraf. Windstein was able to rejoin his DOWN bandmates for the rescheduled Inn Of The Mountain Gods Resort And Casino show.

Prior to Southport Hall, DOWN's last concert took place in September 2022 at the Blue Ridge Rock Festival in Alton, Virginia.

DOWN made a handful of rare live appearances in the spring and summer of 2022. The band launched a three-date U.S. run of shows in May 2022 at the Welcome To Rockville festival in Daytona Beach, Florida. After playing in Atlanta and Dallas immediately after Rockville, DOWN took a three-week break before regrouping for three European festival appearances in June. The aforementioned appearance at that year's Blue Ridge Rock Festival followed in September 2022.

In August 2021, DOWN took part in a very special in-person live and virtual experience. "NOLA Town Throwdown" was held at the Fillmore in New Orleans, Louisiana and featured fans attending the show in person as well as watching it in real time from the comfort of their living room.

In August 2020, DOWN celebrated the 25th anniversary of "NOLA" with a special livestreamed event. Dubbed "The Quarter Century Throwdown", the high-production, multi-camera event took place using cutting-edge streaming technology to create a one-of-a-kind virtual concert experience.

A founding member of DOWN, Windstein left the band in 2013 in order to focus on CROWBAR and his family life. He was replaced by Bobby Landgraf, DOWN's former guitar tech who was previously in GAHDZILLA MOTOR COMPANY, a 1990s outfit also featuring Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS, WATCHTOWER),and HONKY.

Windstein announced his return to DOWN in 2019, with the band confirming a number of festival appearances for 2020 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of "NOLA", all of which were later canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic which swept the globe.

Prior to the August 2020 livestream, DOWN's last live appearance took place in August 2016 at the Psycho Las Vegas festival in Las Vegas.

The supergroup hasn't issued anything since the arrival of the "Down IV – Part Two" EP in May 2014.

"Down IV – Part Two" sold around 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release in May 2014 to debut at position No. 23 on The Billboard 200 chart.

The band's previous EP, "Down IV Part I – The Purple EP", opened with around 12,000 units in September 2012 to land at No. 35.

"Down IV – Part Two" was recorded at Nodferatu's Lair — Anselmo's home studio — and produced by Michael Thompson. It was released via Down Records/ADA Music.

Photo by Tomoko Inoue (courtesy of Earsplit PR)

In a new interview with Andrew McKaysmith of the Scars And Guitars podcast, Max Cavalera (SEPULTURA, SOULFLY, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, KILLER BE KILLED) was asked about the possibility of a follow-up to his 2014 autobiography "My Bloody Roots: From Sepultura To Soulfly And Beyond". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I need to collect a couple of more stories first. But yeah, I think it'd be great to do a second part of that eventually, a little bit further down the road. I think also there's a lot of really cool tour stories and I've been always thinking about this idea of a book of only tour stories. It'd be really cool too, because there's so many great tour stories. The other day I was reading an article that I think Revolver did about the SEPULTURA-MINISTRY tour. And they interviewed everybody on it. And to me, that was cool to read all Al Jourgensen's [MINISTRY] point of view and HELMET's point of view of that tour that I didn't know about it. And Al being a huge SEPULTURA fan, I didn't even know that he was that massive of a SEPULTURA fan, that he kind of fought for us to be on that tour. Yeah, so maybe like a book of tour stories and then eventually sometime later another chapter, another book of the other stuff that I did. But you need to collect stories more first. [Laughs] And that's what we're doing right now."

The "fully revised and updated" edition of "My Bloody Roots: From Sepultura To Soulfly And Beyond" was made available in July 2022 via Jawbone Press. The book includes a foreword by Dave Grohl (FOO FIGHTERS, NIRVANA) and a brand new afterword by Randy Blythe (LAMB OF GOD).

Max has an extraordinary story to tell, and "My Bloody Roots" is an autobiography like no other. Much more than just another tale of rock 'n' roll debauchery, it's a story of heartbreak and loss — and, ultimately, triumph. In it, Cavalera offers an unflinching account of life growing up in hardship in Brazil — a country not previously known for heavy metal — and the multimillion-selling success, against all odds, of the band he founded with his brother, Igor: SEPULTURA.

Then, for the first time, he reveals the full story behind his split with the band — after which he did not speak to his brother for years — and the formation of his SOULFLY, one of the most critically and commercially successful metal bands of recent decades. He also goes into unflinching detail on the devastating impact of the deaths of his father, stepson, and grandson; his struggles with drugs and alcohol; his eventual reunion with Igor in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY; and more.

This revised and updated edition continues to trace Max's career to the present day, covering the formation of his new band GO AHEAD AND DIE as well as the supergroup KILLER BE KILLED.

Max has been a professional musician since 1984 and has toured the world many times. He was a founder member of the metal band SEPULTURA, before forming SOULFLY, who released its latest studio album, "Totem", in 2022, and whose drummer is his son Zyon. He also plays in CAVALERA CONSPIRACY with his brother Igor, GO AHEAD AND DIE with his son Igor, and in the supergroup KILLER BE KILLED.

In an interview with Phoenix New Times, Max stated about his decision to write his memoir: "It felt like it was a good time. I'm reaching about 30 years of my career. 30 years of music. It's a story that I think is really cool. Coming from Brazil . . . and you know, achieving what you wanted, your dream.

"There is a lot really funny shit in it. Pissing off Lemmy [Kilmister of MOTÖRHEAD]. Throwing wine on Lemmy's head. Lemmy chewing Gloria's [Cavalera, Max's wife and manager] ass, saying he wants to kick my ass. Puking on Eddie Vedder [PEARL JAM] on a MINISTRY tour. Those are fucking amazing stories and you can't fabricate this shit. The time made it. So it was a long process.

"I worked with a guy, Joel McIver, who is an English writer. He wrote a Randy Rhoads book, a MOTÖRHEAD book, a DEEP PURPLE book, and a METALLICA unofficial biography, which they really loved. We did about 1,000 interviews trying to remember everything. It wasn't chronological. One day, we'd talk about my childhood or the split from SEPULTURA or the death of [Max Cavalera's stepson] Dana. That was a really hard time to talk to about. It tough to talk about that stuff. That was hard . . . Dark, really dark."

Asked if it was therapeutic for him to go through all of this, Max said: "We treated it more like conversation, like we're doing right now. It was more like us just having a talk.

"I wanted to be easy for people to read. I didn't want it to be complicated. I wanted it to be as easy as possible.

"The book starts in Brixton [London], which was the last show with SEPULTURA. Then we go back to my childhood in Brazil.

"I didn't know it was the final show at the time, but it was a really explosive way to begin. I thought it was a really cool to open it like that. It was his idea, instead of going chronologically. I was on top, conquering the world, and then right after that, getting kicked in the head and everything was gone. My band was gone, my brother was gone, Dana had just died.

"Dave Grohl did an awesome intro. He tells a story about how he bought a $50,000 speaker for his studio sound system, and he pops in [SEPULTURA album] 'Roots' and it blew up the whole fucking thing. [mimicking Grohl] ''Roots' blew up my whole system.' I love that story. If your album can blow up a $50,000 system, you're doing something right. Mike Patton [FAITH NO MORE, MR. BUNGLE, TOMAHAWK] says really cool shit about us in Brazil. He was hanging out with us in Brazil, going to voodoo places. I took him to voodoo rituals in Brazil. He was staying at Igor's house. It was really cool. Sharon Osbourne talks about the Dana thing [in the book]. We were playing Donington [Monsters Of Rock festival] with [Ozzy Osbourne] and they flew us home in their private jet when Dana died. It was a horrible thing. We were flying home because Gloria's son died, in Ozzy's plane. It was horrible. The whole time. It was so dark. I wanted to say something to Gloria and words couldn't even come out of my mouth. Sharon talks about feeling like we needed a friend at that time and she was able to help us. They didn't have to do anything. They were just playing a show with us, and yet they showed their true colors. Somebody else could have said, 'I'm sorry for your loss,' but they didn't do that. They put us on their plane, gave us money and gave Gloria a crucifix. It was amazing. Then when I got kicked out of SEPULTURA, it was around January, we were invited to their [Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne] house for a dinner because Ozzy wanted to encourage me to go on. That's how felt, like he should do something. I went to their house and sat down. Ozzy sat me down and said, 'Fuck them. Fuck those guys. You need to get up off your ass and do something.' It was awesome to hear that from him and I needed to hear that. He played me some BLACK SABBATH demos and it blew my mind. It was fucking awesome to hear that from him. I was tripping the whole time. I never even imagined I would do that. You know, like when I was a kid in Brazil, if you would have told me I would sit down with Ozzy, fucking BLACK SABBATH, I wouldn't have believed it."

Mantar will release a brand new full-length, Post Apocalyptic Depression, on February 14 via Metal Blade Records.


2022's Pain Is Forever And This Is The End saw the German duo bring a sonic richness to their madly heavy blackened death-punk grooves, assisting the record to its position at #2 on Germany's Official Top 10 album chart. The record added smoother, calmer, more harmonic textures to Mantar's expanding palette, but on 2024's Post Apocalyptic Depression, the band smashes the palette and punches a hole in the canvas.


"We wanted to do everything different from the last album," affirms guitarist/vocalist Hanno Klänhardt. "The last album was very produced. A huge sounding record with clean production. Display of power. That was what we wanted and felt at that time. Now we are trying to destroy what we've built up with the last album. There is a certain beauty in disappointing people's expectations."




One earful of monster-grooving punk 'n' roll opener "Absolute Ghost" confirms that disappointment is an implausible reaction to the wildly energized righteous blood-shakers assembled here. Mantar has already eaten up the road all over Europe, the US, Japan, Latin America, and South Africa, as well as all the major European festivals and American festivals over their ten-year existence, but these tunes are destined for especially visceral live connection.


The ethos is clear from the first two words Hanno uses to describe the recording process: "Quick and dirty. We didn't even bring our own gear to the studio, and just used the equipment that we would find there. There was zero planning involved in the making of this album. We wanted to keep it as primitive as possible. We were bolder this time and literally cut any shit off the songs that we didn't think was necessary. I think you can hear that and playing these new songs is more fun. I feel very connected with my punk roots on this album. Very punk rock production and next to our first album definitely the most raw sounding one."


Further reconnecting Mantar with the spirit of their 2014 debut Death By Burning, the new front cover is again painted by renowned artist Aron Wiesenfeld, whose haunting aesthetic lends the band such distinctive and striking visual impact. It feels like a band coming full circle, drawing to a close the first ten years of Mantar.


As for that intensely full-on title, Hanno defines Post Apocalyptic Depression as "the feeling you get after a mass hysteria. The feeling you get once you've invested all your power in a mass hypnosis and suddenly realize there won't be no salvation. Also, it refers to a very one-dimensional and basic human feeling we all know. Being just burned out after a very tedious and exhausting period of life. Post Apocalyptic Depression also can be taken as the insight that people just refuse to learn. Besides that, it's a damn catchy and cool name for an album that sounds exactly the way these words sound."


As a precursor to the record's release, today Mantar unleashes first single, "Halsgericht". Comments Hanno, "The title means something like 'the right to impose extra heavy punishment.' Mantar style. Old fashioned darkness. It's fun to not only finally work with a German song title but also introduce some German lines to the song. It makes it weird and sinister. Just what we like. Especially in the US, people seem to love these kinda vibes. Fine by us. Celebrating it with the most epic hook of the whole album."


Watch Mantar's video for "Halsgericht" below.





Post Apocalyptic Depression is available on CD, and digitally as well as vinyl in the color variants below and a limited-edition box set:


- Rose/White Splatter (US - Ltd. 300)
- 180g Black (EU)
- Pink (EU)
- Grass Green Marbled (EU - Ltd. 500)
- Neon Splatter (EU - Ltd. 300)
- Rose/White Splatter (EU - Ltd. 300)
- Birthday Cake Splatter (EU - Ltd. 300)
- Pale Skin Marbled (EU - Ltd. 300)
- Box Set (EU - Ltd. 1000) - includes standard album on CD and vinyl, bonus 7" w/ two exclusive cover tracks, back patch, signed 12" art print on thick cardboard, + 12" booklet incl. lyrics


Pre-order here.





Tracklisting:


"Absolute Ghost"
"Rex Perverso"
"Principle Of Command"
"Dogma Down"
"Morbid Vocation"
"Halsgericht"
"Pit Of Guilt"
"Church Of Suck"
"Two Choices Of Eternity"
"Face Of Torture"
"Axe Death Scenario"
"Cosmic Abortion"


"Halsgericht" video:





Mantar will join Kvelertak for a short run of live shows this February with more dates to be announced in the weeks to come.

In a new interview with São Paulo, Brazil's 89 FM A Rádio Rock radio station, Serj Tankian, lead singer of the Grammy Award-winning rock band SYSTEM OF A DOWN, solo artist, composer, activist, painter, poet, and filmmaker, spoke about his recently released memoir, "Down With The System". Asked if there was a story or event that he was initially unsure he was going to put in the book, but then he later decided to share it with his readers, Serj said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I included a lot of intimate things within the book, a lot of things that could be seen as confrontational, but I did it in a way that was retrospective and respectful, while taking responsibility for my own part in the drama. And so there's a lot of things like that. The book is incredibly honest and intimate in that sense. There's a lot of things I did leave out. Some of them were sensationalist stories of touring with other artists that I didn't feel obliged to represent without their understanding and conditional release."

Asked if he found it more challenging or liberating to share his story through a book instead of through music, Serj said: "I think telling your story through music is challenging because of the limitations of the musical refrain, whereas in a book, a 300-plus-page book, you can expound more so than any other form of art, more so than films or art itself."

"Down With The System" was released on May 14 via Hachette Books.

In "Down With The System", Serj explores the myriad influences which shaped both his creative journey and his activism while sharing his unique perspective on the band's unlikely rise to fame. This is a band that redefined the boundaries of music with a sound characterized by wildly aggressive metal riffs, unconventional tempo-twisting rhythms, and Armenian folk melodies. Serj alternately growled, screamed and crooned lyrics that ranged from avant-garde silliness to raging socio-political rants within a single line.

He acknowledges that "it's not easy listening," yet their music struck a chord with millions of fans around the world, leading to more than 40 million album sales and three albums topping the Billboard charts. But this memoir is far more than just a rock 'n' roll fable. It's an immigrant's tale, it's an activist's awakening, and it's a spiritual journey from darkness toward light. Born to Armenian parents in Beirut, Serj grew up hearing bombs drop outside his childhood home during the country's civil war, before moving to Los Angeles at the age of seven. In the heart of SoCal's "Little Armenia," Serj learns about the brutal genocide his ancestors faced while helping his parents adapt to the American Dream's constraints and contradictions.

During a pivotal drive home from an LSAT class, Serj decides to turn away from a promising future in business and law to make music instead — a decision that leads him to touring five continents as the lead singer of a hugely popular rock band. In the years that follow, his uniquely singular story continues, as he
evades glass bottles hurled at a canceled show by angry SLAYER fans, teams up with Tom Morello to push social justice causes on unsuspecting metalheads, argues with LAPD officers over the best way to quell rioting fans, and defines new sounds and singing tactics with Rick Rubin.

Braiding together thought-provoking insight with heartfelt and poetic prose, "Down With The System" retraces Serj's remarkable and unlikely journey, and explores what it's taught him — about music, about art, about activism and about himself. It's an unforgettable ride that will leave readers breathless — and an absolute delight for new fans and old ones alike.

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

Hachette Books is a division of Hachette Book Group, a leading general-interest book publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world.

In a new interview with Brian Aberback of The Aquarian Weekly, Blackie Lawless spoke about the 40th anniversary of the release of W.A.S.P.'s first album. To celebrate this classic metal album, W.A.S.P. is, for the first time in 40 years, playing the entire album from top to bottom, start to finish, on a fall 2024 North American tour, dubbed "Album ONE Alive", this fall. Support on the trek is coming from ARMORED SAINT.

Regarding how the "Album ONE Alive" tour came together, Blackie said: "It first started to come about when we started doing meet-and-greets on the last tour. We had never done them before. We didn't know what to do, so we started looking at what other bands were doing. It was basically an autograph and a picture and a handshake. We looked at that and thought that didn't seem great. I wouldn't want that if I was a fan. We were trying to figure out better ways of doing it to make it an enjoyable experience, something that people could take away for a lifetime. What I thought is, 'Let's give them time.' Time is the most valuable thing that any of us have. When we would do the meet-and-greets, I'd go down the line and I'd ask every one of them, 'What's on your mind? What do you think and what do you want to talk about?' It ended up being really, really good. First of all, it was a non-chaotic environment, because when you get half a dozen people on the street trying to come up to you, talking to you all at the same time, it's chaos. In a controlled environment where everybody's relaxed, it becomes really conversational, like what we're doing right now. Everybody can really give themselves a chance to ask something that they've wanted to ask for a long time and get a genuine answer, and for them to understand that I'm getting as much out of it as they are. Because I'm doing little mini market surveys while I'm doing it, I'm picking their brains. Had I known what I know now about doing that, I would have done meet-and-greets a long time ago. That's how the idea for the tour and the production started. When I first started listening to what they were saying, I'm hearing it from a perspective I've never heard it before. When somebody is telling you about how some lyric changed their life and tears are running down their face when they're saying it, they're not acting. That's genuine.

"You have to remember, like most entertainers, I've lived in a bubble my whole career, and it's not until you get in that environment — having an intimate moment with somebody where they're really letting it all hang out, tell you something that you did that changed their life, saved their life — that became a common theme night after night after night. How can you hear those things and not be changed? It started giving me a whole new appreciation, because, again, I'm on the inside of the bubble. It started giving me a whole new appreciation of going back again.

"And it wasn't just that — tight around the same time, maybe about a year before we did that last tour, I started working on a book. but having an idea to write about and flushing out the ideas are different things," he explained. "To really accurately describe an event, let's say something that happened to me, like I got shot at twice; to accurately describe that I've got to really go back and start digging to put the pieces of the puzzle together. After so many years, you remember, but you have the surface memory, but you don't have the deep, detailed memory. When you start digging those things up again, it's like Peter Gabriel says, 'Digging in the dirt to find the places I got hurt.' It's a lot like that. You start discovering things — a lot of it good, a lot of it not so good. It's a real growth experience. It really made me start thinking about, 'Maybe it's time to start looking backwards,' though that's not to say we're going to live there, right? Who says you can't visit the past? I remember hearing John Lennon make a quote one time when THE BEATLES broke up and everybody was all freaked out; he says, 'Don't worry about it. Those records will always be there. You can visit them whenever you like.' The simplicity of that statement was so great, and I thought, 'Okay, let's do the same thing, why can't we go back and visit from time to time?' It also connects to this tour. As part of the VIP package, we're taking a little mini museum out with us. It's four big road cases and they open up and they're six feet high. When they're all put together, they're 16 feet long. Where we got the idea from was the racquetball court at Graceland, where all Elvis had his gold and platinum records and his outfits and all that, so we're doing a little miniature version of that. It will have all our gold and platinum records. In front of the gold and platinum records are outfits, guitars, memorabilia that the fans have sent us, caricatures, models of us, photos, and posters that people have never seen. When I started going through the boxes of everything that I hadn't seen for 20 and 30 years, it was like every box I opened was like Christmas morning. I kid you not; I would start giggling looking at stuff that I had forgotten about, a if it was wowing me like that, the fans are going to absolutely lose it when they see this stuff."

Asked if there was any trepidation about putting this tour together, whether promoters would support it, Blackie said: "I didn't think it was that great, to be honest. I just came from a production meeting. The guy's saying the same thing to me that you're saying right now. He asked me the same question about the promoters, and I told him, 'When I came up with the idea, I initially didn't think it was that great, and the first couple of guys I quizzed, they were all over themselves.' After about going through 10 different guys, all of them were acting the same. I thought, 'You know what, maybe it's me. Maybe we got something here,' because the enthusiasm wasn't just good, it was bubbling over the top."

Regarding why he had doubts, Blackie said: "Because, again, I'm on the inside of the bubble, and I just don't see it like everybody else does. You know the old saying, you can't see the forest for the trees. That's what it's like. I was so exhausted."

W.A.S.P. kicked off the "Album ONE Alive" tour on October 26 at Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California.

Along with bassist Mike Duda and lead guitarist Doug Blair, whose tenures in the band are 29 and 26 years respectively, W.A.S.P. is joined by longtime drummer extraordinaire Aquiles Priester.

The 39-city run is making stops across North America in Vancouver, British Columbia; Toronto, Ontario; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dallas, Texas; New York City; Orlando, Florida; and more before wrapping up on Saturday, December 14 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, California.

W.A.S.P. is again offering fans VIP tickets that give fans a chance to meet W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless, get a personal photo with Blackie, autographs and take part in a very personal question-and-answer session with Blackie. VIP tickets can be purchased at waspnation.myshopify.com.

Because of the extensive back injuries Lawless suffered during the European leg of W.A.S.P.'s 40th-anniversary tour, the band's previously announced 2023 U.S. tour was canceled.

W.A.S.P.'s massive European leg of the 40th-anniversary world tour wrapped on May 18, 2023 in Sofia, Bulgaria at Universidada Sports Hall.

W.A.S.P. wrapped up its first U.S. tour in 10 years with a sold-out show on December 11, 2022 at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. This marked the 18th sold-out shows for the U.S. tour, which kicked off in late October 2022. W.A.S.P.'s performances included the return of the band's classic song "Animal (Fuck Like a Beast)", which hadn't been played live in over 15 years.

W.A.S.P.'s latest release was "ReIdolized (The Soundtrack To The Crimson Idol)", which came out in February 2018. It was a new version of the band's classic 1992 album "The Crimson Idol", which was re-recorded to accompany the movie of the same name to mark the 25th anniversary of the original LP's release. The re-recorded version also features four songs missing from the original album.

W.A.S.P.'s most recent studio album of all-new original material was 2015's "Golgotha".

Avantgarde metal trio, Imperial Triumphant, has released a new single, "Hotel Sphinx", with an accompanying video. Taken from their upcoming sixth full-length, Goldstar (set for a 2025 release via Century Media Records), "Hotel Sphinx" can be streamed/downloaded here, and the video, directed by the band's own Steve Blanco, can be viewed below.





Imperial Triumphant comments: "The 'Entertainer extraordinaire' leads a gullible audience through the sinister halls of the 'Hotel Sphinx'. Behind the lights, cameras, and endless action lies a disturbing undercurrent - where power is fed by the innocence of youth. The lines between entertainment, initiation, and exploitation blur as a conspiracy of silence reigns in the 'Illuminated Valley of the Kings', where political celebrity celebrates death. Rites of passage too dark to speak, promising false salvation in a world where the show never ends."







Equally rooted in eclectic bl

Southern rock icons, Van Zant, have released a lyric video for "Warrior", the new single from the band's first new album in nearly two decades. Titled Always Look Up, the album will also mark the duo’s first foray into Christian music, while holding firm to their southern rock roots. Available on CD, vinyl and streaming, Always Look Up will be available everywhere on November 22 via Frontiers Music SRL.


Pre-order/pre-save the album here, and watch the new video below:







The Van Zant musical dynasty built its foundation firmly on family. Donnie Van Zant co-founded .38 Special and brother Johnny Van Zant is the current lead vocalist for Lynyrd Skynyrd after the passing of their brother Ronnie Van Zant, who fronted and co-founded the iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rock band. But throughout their four decades of climbing the southern rock and country charts together and separately, faith has stayed just as important of a factor in the equation, so much so that the guys decided to finally share their inspirational side with the upcoming new album.


“This has been on our bucket list for quite some time to do a gospel record,” says Donnie of the sessions that started during the pandemic. “We’re both big believers in Jesus Christ, so that’s really how it started.”


In spite of their enormous successes, including .38 Special’s more than 20 million album sales and Lynyrd Skynyrd continuing to sell out arenas and amphitheaters, much of what makes Van Zant so relatable is the fact they’ll be the first to admit their flaws and struggles.


“I’ll be honest with you, the devil was my best friend at one time,” says Johnny. “I’m not gonna lie about that and there ain’t too much that I didn’t try over the years, but I always kept hearing our dad speaking the Bible [in my mind]. Our dad should’ve been a preacher, because boy when he started talking the gospel, you didn’t get up and move. Of course as kids, I think we listened to half of it and tried to consume what we could, so that was always in the back of my head. I always believed in Jesus Christ, but I wasn’t saved and I felt like I had my personal connection, just like the song ‘It’s Up To You’ that’s on this new album. Over the years, that voice of my dad was reminding me to try to be a better person. I made lots of mistakes, lots of things that hopefully I don’t get to the pearly gates and they’re closed for me. I’m trying to get through them now!”


Adds Donnie: “We’ve tried our very best to just write about truth, about people, about problems and situations and just try to be true to ourselves. We don’t write nothing that’s B.S. We try to touch people emotionally and spiritually. If we can do that, I think we’ve done our jobs.”





Always Look Up tracklisting:


"Awesome God"
"Stand Up"
"Warrior"
"There You Are"
"Speak His Name"
"Why God Brought Me Here"
"Praying"
"It's Up To You"
"Holy Moment"
"Leaning On The Cross"
"Jesus Christ"


"Speak His Name" video:





"Jesus Christ" lyric video:





"There You Are" music video:

If you pick up Jethro Tull's bible, open at page one, it shall be written: "Locomotive Breath"!


In perfect synchronicity with the announcement of their reactivation in 2024, Austin, TX stoner doom stalwarts, The Sword, have respectfully taken up the burden of tackling the shuffling madness of arguably the British rock legends' most iconic song on the forthcoming MER Redux Series release, Aqualung Redux, carefully adding a pinch of Texas boogie to the beloved cut. Aqualung Redux has been scheduled for release on December 6.


The Sword's tribute take on Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath" is now available for streaming below.




Parallel to Aqualung Redux, Magnetic Eye Records will release the customary companion album entitled Best Of Jethro Tull Redux. The record contains eight cover renditions of deep cuts and all-time classics from across Jethro Tull's extensive catalogue recorded by some of the heavy underground's most exciting artists.


The Sword comment: "The Sword is definitely no stranger to tackling cover songs", bassist Bryan Richie writes. "It's a challenge we've always enjoyed over the course of our time as a band. For Magnetic Eye's 'Aqualung Redux' project, we thought 'Locomotive Breath' was the perfect track to take a stab at. Live versions of the song certainly prove it was a killer in the band's arsenal. For the piano intro, we enlisted our dear friend Steve Moore (Zombi) and on flute Jason Frey (Hard Proof, Doom Side of the Moon) for their proven expertise. Never before had we ever thought to include a flute in a Sword track, but when the opportunity arose with this compilation, we had to give it a shot! We had a ton of fun with this one!"


The Sword from Austin, Texas started off in 2003 as a doom metal band with Black Sabbath as a major influence. With their debut album Age of Winters (2006) the Americans firmly established themselves in heavy rock and metal circles around the globe. Throughout their career, The Sword firmly remained close to their stylistic roots although occasionally expanding their sound range by adding elements from stoner rock and other related genres. Their sound has always offered a hint of Texan dialect, shining through their musical language with faint echoes of ZZ Top's bluesy twang. In the wake of their seventh studio full-length, The Sword announced their split after 19 years, but 2024 sees the band reactivated with festival appearances scheduled and this, their first new studio recording to come to light.


Aqualung Redux is available as a gatefold oxblood red vinyl LP, a gatefold marbled clear, black & silver vinyl LP, and a gatefold black vinyl LP, and as a Digisleeve CD.


Pre-order here.





Aqualung Redux tracklisting:


Chris Goss & Alain Johannes - "Aqualung"
The Well - "Cross-Eyed Mary"
Osi And The Jupiter - "Cheap Day Return"
Huntsmen - "Mother Goose"
The Otolith - "Wond'ring Aloud"
Motorpsycho - "Up To Me"
Big Scenic Nowhere - "My God"
Saturna - "Hymn 43"
Mammoth Volume - "Slipstream"
The Sword - "Locomotive Breath"
Domkraft & Arvid Hällagård - "Wind-Up"











Jethro Tull are musical giants with a unique sound – or rather sounds that have remained singular in the canon of rock music. Founded in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1967 by the Scotsman Ian Anderson, the band has undergone several stylistic shifts and changes of image during their still ongoing career of many decades. Yet largely due to the characteristic voice of their frontman and the inclusion of a flute as an essential instrument, Jethro Tull have always had an inimitable and easily recognisable trademark sonic fingerprint.


Jethro Tull have pushed the limits of what defines rock music from the start. Elements of classical music, jazz, and traditional music such as compound time signatures have led to the band being classified as art rock and later progressive rock – among a host of other terms. The British legend has managed to balance the tightrope between art, wide appeal and commercial success with seeming ease. This was helped by the outstanding showmanship of Ian Anderson, whose stagecraft and performances even rivalled his contemporary, the legendary British singer Arthur Brown.


With their best-selling album Aqualung (1971) that has by now sold more than 7 million copies worldwide, Jethro Tull achieved their major breakthrough and became a global household name as a rock band on radio shows and on tours. Aqualung primarily revolves around religion and faith but also tackles other subjects such as homelessness, but according to Ian Anderson it was not intended as a concept album. While the band continued to use elements of blues, hard rock, and psychedelia, it also added more folk style acoustic moments. The single track "Locomotive Breath", taken from Aqualung, is probably the best known and most covered tune of Jethro Tull.


Magnetic Eye's Redux Series was created to pay homage to classic albums from across music history. The label has charged themselves as chroniclers and archivists to contribute to keeping the memory of outstanding artists and records alive and transfer their music to the sound of new generations. Heavy music has always experienced evolution in many directions, but the idea that a band led by an eccentric, mercurial Scotsman who integrated art pieces, social critiques, off-kilter humour a

In June 2021, rock ’n’ roll band, Rival Sons, delivered two live performances from Catalina Island, CA. They were originally streamed via Veeps to fans at home across the world, many of whom were still in lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic.


Rival Sons set out from their homes in L.A. and Long Beach, and on a friend’s yacht they sailed over to Catalina Island with all their equipment and their crew, to perform in the Catalina Casino for global audiences. Frontman Jay Buchanan comments: “'Pair Of Aces' was recorded over two days in May of 2021 at the Casino in Avalon Bay on Santa Catalina Island, California. Part One (‘Before The Fire’) was recorded in the ballroom on May 19th and Part Two (‘Rival Sons’ EP) was recorded in the historic theater on May 20th.”
At the time, the band stated: “We’ve all been through so much this past year and a half. We have longed to be on the road playing for you. As you know, we launched our label Sacred Tongue Recordings and have been re-releasing our early material. We felt that revisiting these first two records in a live, prestigious setting was the best way to give them the first-class treatment that our humble beginnings couldn’t provide.”


Now, for the first time, these performances will be available to watch on YouTube and to stream on audio platforms. Both performances will be premiered via YouTube and released in their entirety digitally. A Pair Of Aces: Live From Santa Catalina Island (Part 1) will be released on November 22; pre-save here. RSVP for the YouTube premiere here. A Pair Of Aces: Live From Santa Catalina Island (Part 2) will be released on December 13; pre-save here. Individual songs for both nights will also be made available the following day.




Buchanan states: “To finally release both audio and video of these performances feels good. When we recorded these performances, the band was neck deep in what was to become the Darkfighter/Lightbringer collection so breaking away from all of that heavy lifting to go blow some dust off of our origin story felt amazing. It’s a raw, unfiltered glimpse at a band raging against the isolation of the times.”


Watch two preview clips of Rival Sons performing “I Want More” (from Night #1), and “Soul” (from Night #2), below.


Santa Catalina Island is a rocky island, off the coast of Southern California in the Gulf of Santa Catalina. The island covers an area of about 75 square miles. The Catalina Casino is a 92-year-old building built by The Wrigleys. Dominating the Avalon landscape from its regal perch along the bay, the casino exemplifies the style and romance of Catalina Island.


Buchanan elaborates, “It had been a dream of mine to play the Casino since I’d gone there as a child. Through the pandemic years we’d had the intention to record a live stream, but we’d been turned off by how terribly we’d seen it go for so many bands. We wanted to record a performance where we were just playing for each other without an audience. Generate the energy together for the sake of doing it. Along with everyone else, we hadn’t been able to tour or play shows at all in over fifteen months and it was killing us.”


Guitarist Scott Holiday comments: “You can see Catalina Island from the beach town I live in. I’ve been visiting it for years. Every time I’ve gone, I’ve made sure to visit the old historic casino that sits proudly at one end of the harbor in Avalon. And every time I’ve taken the tour I’ve thought the same thing…wouldn’t it be so great to play in these rooms and make a live film? And so…Rival Sons did just that.”


At the time the band stated: “It is beautiful, and perfectly exudes how we wanted to portray these recordings.” Scott elaborates: “In recognition of the 10-year anniversary of our first 2 albums, we played each album in its entirety over 2 different nights. One night in the ballroom (in the round!) performing 'Before the Fire,' and the next night we played the self-titled record in the old movie theatre. It was every bit as cool and interesting as I’d hoped. A real honor and pleasure to fill this beautiful place with sound. The director did a great job capturing it for everyone to share in the experience with us and now it will be available to listen and watch anytime you’d like.”


Before The Fire, originally recorded in 2009 with producer (and now 9x Grammy Award winner) Dave Cobb, was Rival Sons’ debut album, and includes the fan favorites “Tell Me Something,” “Memphis Sun,” and “On My Way.”


The Rival Sons six-song EP - originally recorded in 2010, again with Dave Cobb - was the release which led to the band first getting signed. It includes tracks such as “Get What’s Coming,” “Torture,” “Radio,” “Sacred,” “Tongue,” and “Soul,” which are all fan favorites.


The band promised that, “Each night will have its own surprises and songs will be delivered with a new presentation of who we are now.”





A Pair Of Aces: Live From Santa Catalina Island (Part 1) tracklisting:


"Tell Me Something"
"Lucky Girl"
"Memphis Sun"
"Angel"
"Pocketful Of Stones"
"The Man Who Wasn’t There"
"Pleasant Return"
"On My Way"
"I Want More"
"Flames Of Lanka"
"Nanda Nandana"


A Pair Of Aces: Live From Santa Catalina Island (Part 2) tracklisting:


"Get What’s Coming"
"Torture"
"Radio"
"Sleepwalker"
"Soul"
"Sacred Tongue"

Fantasy metal overlords, Elvenking, have signed a worldwide deal with uprising metal enthusiasts, Reaper Entertainment.


"We are more than excited to start a new chapter of our career with a new label, after 24 years working with the same one," founder Aydan states. "We feel really really distant from how heavy metal is conceived nowadays; we have grown up in the end of the '80s and during the '90s and we still believe in how metal was in that period. Therefore, it is great to work with Reaper guys who have the same vision in music that we have."


Reaper Entertainment adds: "We are overjoyed that the mighty Elvenking are now part of the Reaper family. We have been fans of their music for many years and are very happy that we can complete the Readers Of The Runes trilogy together. Look forward to the upcoming single and welcome the band to our ranks!"




Together, Elvenking and Reaper Entertainment set sail to bring their epic Reader Of The Runes trilogy to a rewarding close, one of the most epic sagas in the history of heavy metal. As a first foretaste of what's to come and to baptise this new alliance in sound, Elvenking today announce the release of their brand-new single, "Throes Of Atonement", an uplifting, soaring anthem full of magical energy and that sense of wonder tragically lacking in most other metal bands today.


"Conceptually we are going back in time, to when things were more light-hearted for all of the characters, all the way to the tragic moment that determined the main cause of the whole story," main vocalist Damnaexplains the motivation behind this first banger.
 
"Throes of Atonement" will be released on November 29th. Pre-save here





Likes echoes from a twilight world, reminiscences of Iron Maiden, early Blind Guardian or early In Flamesroam through their music without deducting anything from the sheer originality emanating from the song. Ever more the masters in combining catchy tunes and huge choruses with intricate fantasy atmosphere and expansive instrumental parts, Elvenking prove to be a natural successor of metal high wizards such as Skyclad, Helloween or Avantasia, genuine and rightful successors to the throne.


2025 will bring Elvenking to stages all across Europe when they join forces with Alestorm, Ensiferum, Tyr and Heidevolk to resurrect the legendary Paganfest trek.


Dates:


January
8 - Hamburg, Germany - Grosse Freiheit
9 - Groningen, Netherlands - Oosterpoort
10 - Stuttgart, Germany - Filharmonie
11 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle * extended show with special guests
12 - Berlin, Germany - Huxley's Neue Welt
13 - Roskilde, Denmark - Congress Centre
14 - Bremen, Germany - Aladin Music Hall
16 - Birmingham, United Kingdom - O2 Academy
17 - Edinburgh, United Kingdom - O2 Academy
18 - Manchester, United Kingdom - O2 Victoria Warehouse
19 - London, United Kingdom - O2 Academy Brixton
20 - Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
21 - Wiesbaden, Germany - Schlachthof
22 - Paris, France - Zenith
23 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7 Konzertfabrik
24 - Geiselwind, Germany - Eventzentrum * extended show with special guests
25 - Munich, Germany - Backst

One of Australia’s most exciting and enigmatic extreme metal outfits, Deadspace, have released the new full length album, The Dark Enlightenment.


The musical, lyrical and philosophical trajectory of Deadspace has entered into the realm of the masterful and the unrelenting. Taking another step away from the melodic depressive elements of past eras and re-asserting their place amongst the heavy and experimental black metal elite.


The Dark Enlightenment is available now via Bandcamp







Tracklist:


"Reptillian Birthright"
"Culminating Chaos" 
"In The Vault Of Murmur" 
"Fanged Noumena" 
"Dysgeusia"
"The Catacosmic Conundrum"
"Into Shadow"





The Dark Enlightenment' is the quintessential album of the new Deadspace era. As the final definitive disconnect from our old DSBM roots, this record delivers the ferocity hinted at in last year's release. It is longer, sharper, puncher and more focused than it's predecessor, carving space for Deadspace to re-settle in more extreme metal circles. This change has been a long-sighted pursuit and the band is finally ready to unleash its pure vitriolic fury.


The albums title is a direct reference to the work of controversial philosopher Nick Land. This is not to be confused with an endorsement of accelerationst theory, but rather, an artistic exploration into the problems that it aims to address. In particular, the notion of the Fanged Noumena is addressed in detail, underpinning the undeniable omnipresence of a systemic capitalist artificial intelligence in which humanity can only serve. The album acknowledges this fact and parallels it with Lovecraftian cosmic horror as the basis of the tortured human psyche.


The artwork, created solely by Anett Gebaue

Celebrated guitarist and singer Orianthi will release her new single, "Some Kind Of Feeling", on Friday, November 15 via Woodward Avenue Records.

"Some Kind Of Feeling" is the title track single taken from the album of the same name. The highly anticipated album is set for release in 2025.

Watch the official music video for "Some Kind Of Feeling" below.

With each new fiery, emotionally impactful single on Woodward Avenue Records, the great Orianthi reveals something fresh in her ever-evolving artistry — and her latest infectious, blues-inflected gem "Some Kind Of Feeling", produced by the legendary Kevin Shirley (JOURNEY, AEROSMITH, LED ZEPPELIN),is no exception.

But before we get to the magical illumination she reveals in the song, it's always fun, for those new to the singer, songwriter, and master electric guitarist/effortless shredder's multi-faceted musical aesthetic, to recount her many accolades and all-star associations to date. To name drop just a few, her resume includes an almost historic run of shows with Michael Jackson (hired for the London performances before his sudden death) and years-long collaborations with Alice Cooper, Dave Stewart and Richie Sambora.

The warm soulful tone of and occasional breathiness in her voice on the first funky verse of "Some Kind Of Feeling" brings to mind one of rock and roll's greatest female voices ever — Chrissie Hynde. High compliments of comparison aside, after opening with a few blistering licks over Ed Roth's bluesy keys in the hooky intro, Orianthi shares on the track what it really feels like to meet that special person, cleverly referencing her last single with an illuminating line in the first verse: "When he walked into my world, now you're by my side. All the ghosts are gone that used to keep me up at night."

After a pre-chorus that describes the entry of love with a Wizard Of Oz-like switch to color from black and white, she gets right to the emphatic, exulting heart of the matter in the chorus, where she sings of love as both a universal phenomenon that fills our deepest desires and her personal key to fulfilment. Orianthi sings it powerfully like an anthem we should all join in on: "'Cause everybody's looking for something. We're all searching for a deeper meaning. Don't make it through the night. Just gonna be right by your side. 'Cause, baby, you give me some kind of feeling." As she repeats the title phrase, she takes us to rock and roll church with gospel-flavored voices swelling around her, backed by more of that effervescent electric energy. As with all Orianthi tunes that show off her ample gifts as a singer/songwriter, she puts all her blistering ammo out there on a lengthy solo after the second chorus.

While it's kind of the aural "money shot" of the song, well worth waiting and singing again through the chorus to get to, Orianthi offers a slightly lower key (and by design, much shorter) preview of the divine madness to come with a fill of that blissful crackle just before verse two. These lines are like a valentine to all the ways her new love pulled her out of difficult, dark places, culminating with the very vulnerable, "Thank you for loving me when I was so hard to love." One of the lyric changes in the second pre-chorus is significant: "Guess I'll never understand how I found somebody like you, baby." Like, love is always a special surprise that brings out the best in us, because, you know, "Everybody's looking for something."

Orianthi's band deserves major kudos for keeping "Some Kind Of Feeling" hopping, exciting and grooving along. In addition to Ed Roth, the ensemble includes bassist Justin Andres, guitarist Nick Maybury and drummer Jimmy Paxson, with those sublime background vocals provided by Jade MacRae, Justin Andres and Orianthi herself.

The title of Orianthi's latest track, "Some Kind Of Feeling", is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. She's singing in a raw, vulnerable, and romantic way about how love changed her, but along the way gives us a great feeling that we are also experiencing something special and transcendent.

"Some Kind Of Feeling" credits:

Orianthi - guitar, lead and background vocals
Justin Andres - bass and background vocals
Nick Maybury - guitar
Ed Roth - keyboards
Jimmy Paxson - drums
Jade MacRae - background vocals
Produced and mixed by Kevin Shirley
Mastered by Don Bartley
Written by Orianthi Panagaris
Executive producer - Mark Nordman

Photography by Alex Brown

In a new interview with The Logan Show, FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson addressed the fact that he and his bandmates are often dismissed as a glorified cover band, particularly since founding guitarist Mick Jones no longer regularly tours with the act.

The only remaining original member of FOREIGNER, Jones suffered from some health issues beginning in 2011, eventually resulting in heart surgery in 2012. This past February, Jones revealed on social media that he was battling Parkinson's disease, which explained his absence from FOREIGNER's live shows since 2022.

Joining Jones and Pilson in FOREIGNER's current lineup are Kelly Hansen on vocals, Michael Bluestein on keyboards, Bruce Watson on guitar, Chris Frazier on drums and Luis Maldonado on guitar.

After singer Lou Gramm left FOREIGNER in 2003, Jones took some time off before regrouping a couple years later with an entirely new lineup, featuring Hansen and Pilson, among others.

Regarding the criticism the current FOREIGNER lineup faces for not featuring any original members, Pilson said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, the ticket sales sort of speak for themselves. Listen, I understand where people are coming from. I understand it. But I also know that with FOREIGNER, the songs are really the legacy. And so my job, as musical director, is to make sure that the songs sound and deliver in a way that they should. And I think I'm doing my job because… Yes, there are haters online — of course — but I think there's not as many as you might think. I think their voices are louder than the amount of people doing it, because the ticket sales do speak for themselves and the offers from promoters speak for themselves. We are very well established as FOREIGNER right now. So, again, if people don't wanna come because there's no original members, that's okay. I understand that. But if you wanna come and hear FOREIGNER songs done really, really well, come to our show."

Elaborating on what being FOREIGNER's musical director entails, Jeff said: "Well, yes, I decide the setlist. And, listen, it's an easy job in the respect that everybody's a great musician, everybody listens. I mean, that's how you got to be in the band, is 'cause you were gonna fill that position well. So it's not like I have to ride herd on anybody, but I have to listen and I have to make sure, 'Hey, don't get too carried away doing this' or 'let's keep the vocals tight on this thing.' Yeah, I have to kind of ongoingly do that, but it's a very easy job because we all have the same vision and that's the biggest part of it. So, again, I kind of think of it as an easy job, but I take it very seriously. And it's very important to me that the delivery we give to people is a hundred percent. And I feel like we do that every night. So, I'm very, very confident in what we do."

Pilson also talked about FOREIGNER's recent announcement that it was extending its farewell tour and including a celebration of the band's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction. Original bandmembers will join them at select shows starting with FOREIGNER's sold-out three-week fall residency at the Venetian, Las Vegas. Both Rick Wills and Al Greenwood, who are frequent guests of FOREIGNER, will sit in with the band they helped create for the entire residency. Discussions are in hand to include Gramm as FOREIGNER moves toward its 50th anniversary in 2026.

Asked how long he thinks the FOREIGNER farewell tour will continue on, Pilson said: "Well, when we first decided — we did at one point think that this was gonna be the end of the road, and then the pressure just got too great. And then with the Rock Hall, it just became obvious that we had to continue… that maybe we're gonna not do the long nine-and-ten-months-of-the-year road stuff anymore. And that's kind of what we mean by a farewell tour. We always anticipated that in 2025 we'd be doing other things, like perhaps getting some new music out, and we came to the acceptance that we were gonna be doing shows in 2025 during the course of the year; we came to accept that. Now we're realizing, okay, it's gonna be more than we thought. It's not a nine-and-10-month-of-the-year tour, though. So in that sense, the farewell of that has happened. But how long do I see it going? I see it going a while with the momentum that we've established. So, I would not be surprised if we continue well past '25."

FOREIGNER was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on October 19. Gramm, Greenwood and Wills were present to accept the award, while Jones and Dennis Elliott sat out the ceremony. (Jones's daughter, Annabelle Dexter-Jones, was on hand to help accept the award.) Ian McDonald and Ed Gagliardi died in 2022 and 2014, respectively.

The induction ceremony was held at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. It aired live on Disney+. An edited three-hour prime-time special will follow, premiering on New Year's Day on ABC, and become available for streaming the following day on Hulu and Disney+.

To be eligible for this year's ballot, each nominee's first single or album had to have been released in 1999 or earlier.

Eligible since 2002, FOREIGNER has had a huge number of rock hits, including "Cold As Ice", "Double Vision", "Hot Blooded", "I Want To Know What Love Is", "Juke Box Hero" and "Urgent", and has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, with no wins.

In a new interview with Primordial Radio, ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell has opened up about how music distribution has changed over the years, and what it really means for artists' livelihoods.

"The music business really wasn't set up in a very equitable way," Jerry said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It was kind of predatory loans to bands that you paid back at 75 cents on the dollar. And as far as keeping your publishing, that was a real battle and very few artists did that. The new model has taken that and kind of intensified it a bit. I was looking at — I can't remember the artist, but I was looking at something that gets millions and millions of streams or whatever, and people are being paid a thousandth of a cent [laughs], a thousandth of a cent every time it's played. In the old days, when you got played on the radio, that turned into like a penny or something then, and that adds up. I'm a real advocate for artists' rights, man."

Cantrell further explained that the music industry has always been challenging, but with streaming platforms, the financial squeeze has only intensified.

"The new model of the streaming platform has really taken the old model of really being a small cut to the artist and made it really even smaller," he said. "So the prices to do business — rent a bus, gas, fuel, salaries, travel — they all continue to go up and the income continues to go down for artists of all sizes now.

"I've got nothing to complain about," Jerry clarified. "I'm doing fine, but it's about doing good work. I don't think a grocery store or a farmer or somebody that sell sells or grows a lot of product would stay in business very long if the cost remains the same to operate and bring that to market and maybe 70 to eight 80 percent of the customers walked in and said, 'I don't really feel like I wanna pay for this apple today, but I'm gonna take it anyway.' [Laughs]"

Despite all of these challenges, Cantrell still remains very grounded and focused on what he does best, which is making music and sharing it with his fans. But it's clear that he wants a fairer deal for artists.

"It's a bad business model," Jerry said. "It would be nice to see it a little bit fairer toward the artist. Sure. The landscape is always moving, the clock is always running and you can count on the fact that it's changing. And so that's part of life, is as you go through the days, weeks and years to try to feel the changes, be aware of them, try to adapt to them and figure out how to operate.

"It's been an adventure for me, and I've seen a lot of changes," Cantrell added. "I come from the generation of being a kid listening to eight-tracks and 45s and LPs and that was it. I watched a few format changes, watched a few different models change about how people consume music and how music is delivered to them. I'm still trying to figure it out too. But in the end, you can do what you can. You'd be aware of it. You can speak to it and try to figure out what works for you.

"My job is pretty simple, and this brings us full circle back to the beginning. I'm just trying to try to make some good rock and roll that I dig, throw it out there and go out and play it for people. And I'm really lucky that I got the opportunity to do that and some people that care about what I do."

Cantrell's new solo album, "I Want Blood", was released on October 18.

To celebrate "I Want Blood"'s arrival, the iconic ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist announced a North American tour of the same name.

The trek kicks off on January 31 in Niagara Falls and makes its way across the country, concluding in Cantrell's home state of Washington.

Ahead of the album's release, Cantrell has been featured on the cover of Revolver, participated in a career-spanning conversation with Rick Beato, and has received widespread praise album for the collection's heavier sound. Metal Hammer described "I Want Blood" as having an "iconic sound, sludgy guitars and soulful vocals."

"I Want Blood", co-produced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MELVINS),was recorded at Barresi's JHOC Studio in Pasadena, California. The album features contributions from bass heavyweights Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) and Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),drummers Gil Sharone (TEAM SLEEP, STOLEN BABIES) and Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE),and backing vocals from Lola Colette and Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, ex-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).

Cantrell's tour with BUSH concluded two months ago, with the North American outing wrapping up at the iconic Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on September 15.

Cantrell's previous solo album, "Brighten", came out in October 2021. The LP was Jerry's first project without ALICE IN CHAINS in 19 years.

Jerry's career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two other solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell's first solo album, "Boggy Depot", was released in 1998, followed by his second album, "Degradation Trip". In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including "Spider-Man", "The Cable Guy", "John Wick 2", "Last Action Hero" and "The Punisher".

ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with William DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, "Rainier Fog", in August 2018.

Photo credit: Darren Craig

Firewind announces the long overdue re-release of the out-of-print second album, Burning Earth, originally released in 2003. Check out a lyric video for "I Am The Anger" below.


Firewind attracted a lot of attention with their debut album, Between Heaven And Hell. No wonder, as the band's power/melodic metal, rooted in traditional hard rock, appeals to a wide audience and is recorded with great attention to detail. No wonder, as Firewind's guitarist is former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G., now one of the scene's leading lights.


Former Kenziner frontman Stephen Fredrick is responsible for the good, powerful vocals and Pagan's Mind skin tanner Stian Kristoffersen is on drums.




Order the album in a webshop exclusive (translucent green) signed vinyl bundle here. Order the CD here. A CD bundle (pictured below) is available from Rock Hard, here.

Bloodstock festival organizers have shared the video below, along with the following message:


"Step into the world of heavy rock as The Vintage Caravan takes the stage at Bloodstock Open Air 2024! Hailing from Iceland, this dynamic trio brought their signature blend of classic and modern rock to the festival, leaving the crowd buzzing with energy. On August 9th, 2024, they delivered an epic set under the roof of the Sophie Lancaster Stage, showcasing their skillful musicianship, captivating stage presence, and a setlist full of hard-hitting tracks. From soaring guitar solos to thunderous rhythms, their performance was an unforgettable highlight of the festival weekend.


"Known for their explosive stage energy, The Vintage Caravan pulled fans into a mesmerizing musical journey, blending psychedelic vibes with powerful, blues-infused rock. This full set includes songs that seamlessly combine 70s-inspired riffs with a fresh, contemporary edge. If you're a fan of high-energy live rock performances, this is one you can't miss!




"Whether you're a lon

Swedish rockers, Wildness, are pleased to announce the release of their new studio album, Avenger, out January 24 via Frontiers Music Srl. To mark the occasion, the band share the first single and official video, “Crucified”. Watch the video below, and pre-order Avenger here.


The band express their enthusiasm for this release, by saying: “The wait is finally over, and we're proud to present our fourth album “Avenger” for you guys! This is an album that summarizes everything that Wildness stands for, and we can't wait for you guys to hear it!”


Wildness was formed in 2014 by drummer and songwriter Erik Modin, guitar players Adam Holmström and Pontus Sköld and lead singer Gabriel Lindmark. The band performed live and released a few demos during the first two years, before signing a record deal and releasing their first two albums on the German label AOR Heaven.




Bass player Marcus Sjösund stepped in as a full member of the band during the recording of their debut album, which was released in late 2017 and immediately became a great international success among fans of melodic hard rock. However, disagreements regarding musical directions led lead singer Gabriel Lindmark to leave Wildness in the fall of 2019.


The band recruited lead singer Erik Forsberg (ex-Blazon Stone) as their new frontman and lead singer in the spring of 2020. Their follow-up to the debut album was named Ultimate Demise (released in late 2020), and became an ever greater success for the band, thanks to Erik Forsberg’s powerful set of pipes and the hit-single “Cold Words”.


Wildness spent the main part of 2021 writing and planning the follow-up to Ultimate Demise, and after the band signed a multi-album deal with Frontiers in October 2021, they finally released their third album, titled Resurrection, which contains eleven melodic masterpieces with one foot in the 80’s and the other one in the present.


Followed by intense writing and recording sessions, Wildness finally return with their new album Avenger, a record that musically defines the band better than ever. With songs like “Wings Of Fire”, “Avenger” and “Stand Your Ground”, the band pays tribute to classic hard rock pioneers like DIO, Accept and Yngwie Malmsteen. Songs like “Crucified”, “Wasted Time”, “Walk Through The Fire” and “Broken Heart” represent the classic melodic arena anthems that have always been the key for Wildness.


The band have performed at a number of different festivals internationally and shared stages with well-known acts such as Dokken, H.E.A.T, Dee Snider, Crashdïet, Dragonforce, Arch Enemy, Warrant, Vixen and others, and also had the honor to open for Pretty Maids, among others.





Avenger tracklisting:


"Wings Of Fire"
"Crucified"
"Broken Heart"
"Caught Up In A Moment"
"Wasted Time"
"Avenger"
"Poison Ivy"
"I'll Be Over You"
"Stand Your Ground"
"Eye Of The Storm"
"Walk Through The