French evocative black metallers, Berlial, are proud to unveil the cover artwork for the new album, Nourishing The Disaster To Come, realized by the talented artist Jeff Grimal.


The French duo explains this choice: "The artwork depicts Charon sailing through the waste piles of the 6th continent. Sorrowful souls, reminiscent of the migrants dying in the sea as they try to survive, are drowning there. We also distinguish a satellite like those already invading space. The choice of Jeff Grimal was imposed by his way of working and his technique, a raw art, a suggestive figuration which tends towards the abstract. In addition, the artist's favorite themes (Lovecraft's universe, nature and the abstract) are adapted to what the group wanted to represent."


Nourishing The Disaster To Come will be released on February 7 via My Kingdom Music in digipak CD, LP (black and splatter blue vinyls) and digital. Pre-order here.







Tracklisting:


"The Last Dance"
"Nouveau Monde"
"We Deserve To Fall Again"
"Ivresse De La Finitude"
"Nourishing The Disaster To Co

Chicago death metal trio, Primal Code, are streaming their new song, "Extinction", featured on their upcoming Opaque Fixation album. Listen to the track below.


Featuring former members of Indian, Primal Code's ethos is firmly rooted in no-frills, no nonsense death metal. From the opening moments of Opaque Fixation, the band's intent is clear: every second counts, and every second has to be packed with the most aggressive and disgusting riffs possible.


Opaque Fixation is out November 15 via Relapse Records on LP/CD/Digital. Pre-order via Relapse.com here.







Tracklisting:


"Intro"
"Anapsid"
"Totem"
"Derelict"
"Hive"
"IWL"
"Extinction"
"Terminal"
"Angler"
"Stuck"


"Extinction":





"Anapsid" video:





More about Primal Code:


It starts with a rumble and ends with devastation. Primal Code are a death metal bulldozer on a mission to level the world.


Formed in 2021 in Chicago, Illinois, this trio of dogged diehards have swiftly mutated into one of the heaviest and most distinctive bands in the modern death metal scene. Poised to release their debut album, vocalist/guitarist Gene Marino, bassist Will Lindsay (ex-Indian/Middian) and drummer James Farn were always determined to forge their own path through the underground.


“It really started with our obsession with Bolt Thrower and how a lot of bands didn’t have that same vibe. ‘Low-speed whiplash’ was the term that was kicked around at first that we stuck to a lot. Being a three-piece has also really become a big part of what we are aiming for. Less is more, always.”


For those that crave the arcane magic of old school death metal, Primal Code are already speaking your language. Inspired by the grotesque greats of the ‘90s, from Death and Obituary to Napalm Death and Skinless, the Chicagoan trio have conjured something unique and refreshingly foul. After one demo, one EP (2023’s Subliminal Master) and a split release (with thrashcore crew The Gavel), they signed a deal with esteemed underground imprint Relapse Records, and began work on their first full-length album.


And here it is: Opaque Fixation. On what is an exhilarating and remarkable debut, Primal Code slam down a new blueprint for abominable aggression, crushing everything in their path with militant, mid-paced brutality. Recorded at Bricktop Studios in their hometown, feral anthems like Anapsid, Totem and Extinction gi

Thy Kingdom Will Burn will release the new album, The Loss And Redemption, on January 17 via Scarlet Records.


After establishing themselves as one of the most interesting new bands of the Finnish melodic death metal scene with the first two records, Thy Kingdom Will Burn has definitely found a peculiar, moving voice.


The Loss And Redemption is by far their most personal work: musically-wise, the album is massive, pitch-black dark, and beautifully melancholic at the same time – once again the guys have pushed themselves to the next level as songwriters and musicians. The lyrics deal with loneliness and longing to escape the chaos of modern life – something we can all easily identify with.




Thy Kingdom Will Burn are magnificent torchbearers of darkness & light, gloom & hope, in that quite unique Finnish fashion.


Recorded, mixed and mastered by Juho Räihä at Inka Studio, and graced by the stunning artwork of Spanish maestro Alvaro Valverde, The Loss And Redemption will be released in the following formats:


- jewel case CD
- digital


Pre-order/pre-save

Indian rockers, Girish And The Chronicles, are thrilled to unveil their new single and accompanying video, “Kaal”, out now via Frontiers Music Srl. Stream/download the single here, and watch a music video below.





The track represents a first for the band, featuring a chorus sung in Nepalese. It is a heavy song, a little different from the band’s usual sound, aiming to tap into a new audience that listens to Nepali Rock/Metal music.




The band is also currently on their Re-Ignition Tour 2024, which started in Trollhättan, Sweden, on October 25 and will end in Troon, UK, on November 30. They are also set to perform at the oldest and one of the biggest Rock fests in India, Mahindra Independence Rock, to be held in the city of Mumbai.


Girish Pradhan comments on the new single, by saying: “I know I would eventually sing in my Native language of Nepali, some day, but I had no clue it would come about this way. 'Kaal', which also translates to 'The End/Doom' etc, is a musical force. We wanted to try out a different sound for a change. We wanted it to be raw, both sonically and visually. While we know there may be some folks out there, for whom it’s not a wise idea to divert away from a style that has been working fairly well for us, we also feel it is extremely important to keep experimenting and exploring.”


“GATC has never been about a particular sound. We have always been so much more than that, and our true fans over the years have always known that. Either way, it’s a banger and there’s no way one can escape the sonic punch they’re about to receive. A big thanks to our label Frontiers Records for being understanding and supporting us on this venture!”, he adds.





Arguably one of the most prominent and influential bands in the melodic rock/metal genre for the past 10+ years in India, Girish And The Chronicles has been steadily gaining popularity and prominence globally as well. Critics and fans alike have labeled frontman Girish Pradhan as one of the best rock voices in the scene. The band has already gained a legendary status amongst rock enthusiasts, both old and new, within India.


Known for their dynamic songwriting style and energy-packed live performances, GATC has toured with, supported, featured as special guests, and shared festivals with the likes of Guns ‘N’ Roses, Skid Row, Alter Bridge, Nazareth, Kamelot, Bullet For My Valentine, Poets Of The Fall, TesseracT, Hoobastank, and more.


Being the only band from their ho

In a new interview with Cassius Morris, Steve "Skinny" Felton, drummer and founder of Cleveland theatrical art-metal ensemble MUSHROOMHEAD, was asked about the use of technology like Yondr at concerts, where fans are able to place their phones in a pouch that unlocks only after they leave the no-cell-phone zone. The pouch can also be unlocked at specific cell phone stations inside the venue. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We actually did that at a show. We had a show to celebrate our album 'Superbuick', and it was a limited number of tickets and there was like a dress code. Everyone had to wear a suit and tie at the very least; it was one of those type of events. And then we just asked everyone to put their phones away and please do not take pictures, just enjoy the show, please. And, man, it was amazing how many people just went with it. And there weren't phones out. There's not even a lot of pictures online of that event because people, they really wanted to experience that. Now doing that every time or just telling people what to do in general isn't cool, I don't think. People wanna do what they wanna do. They have a right to get on their phone if they want. Even at a full show, if you can manage to put it down for three songs and just enjoy yourself, I highly recommend it."

Last month, GHOST announced that the band's 2025 tour will be a phone-free experience. Phones will be secured in Yondr pouches. Guests maintain possession of their phones at all times.

Phones, Apple watches and other communication devices are placed in the pouch and sealed using a magnetized lock, which can be opened with an unlocking base.

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.

In a new interview with David Glessner of San Antonio Express-News, QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton spoke about a possible follow-up to the band's 2022 album "Digital Noise Alliance". He said: "Yeah, we're gonna have to step up our game after the success of 'Digital Noise Alliance'. We've been doing tons of touring, so we have to figure out when we're going to do the next [album]. We've been throwing around demo ideas and writing on the road and whenever we have breaks at home. We're hoping to possibly get into the studio next year sometime.

"We're always thinking about what we're going to do next, but people don't buy CDs and records anymore, so you make your living on the road," he added.

QUEENSRŸCHE is performing the band's 1983 EP and 1984's "The Warning" album in their entirety as part of "The Origins Tour".

"Digital Noise Alliance" came out in October 2022 via Century Media. The record was once again helmed by Chris "Zeuss" Harris, who previously worked with QUEENSRŸCHE on 2015's "Condition Hüman" and 2019's "The Verdict" LPs.

Guitarist Mike Stone, who rejoined QUEENSRŸCHE in 2021, contributed guitar solos to the band's latest studio album.

Since late May 2021, Stone has been handling second-guitar duties in QUEENSRŸCHE, which announced in July 2021 that longtime guitarist Parker Lundgren was exiting the group to focus on "other business ventures."

Stone originally joined QUEENSRŸCHE for the 2003 album "Tribe" and stayed with the band for six years before leaving the group.

For the past seven and a half years, drummer Casey Grillo has been filling in for original QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield, who stepped away from the band's touring activities in early 2017 to spend time with his young son.

In October 2021, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against Wilton and bassist Eddie Jackson, alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge. A few months later, Wilton and Jackson filed a countersuit against Rockenfield, accusing him of abandoning his position as a member of the band and misappropriating the group's assets to his own personal benefit. That dispute has since been settled out of court.

In a recent interview with Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio, former DELAIN frontwoman Charlotte Wessels was asked about the circumstances that led to her 2021 departure from the band. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "There was a conflict and we couldn't overcome it. That's a very short version of it. I've never really gone into detail about it, and I still don't really feel about going into detail about it. The thing that I will say is we spent a lot of time trying to work things out. We were already putting much energy in that before we kind of got to the conflict where it was hard to come back from. But, yeah, especially since the pandemic happened, we had no gigs. We had all the time in the world to think, like, 'Okay, what are we going to do? Will we be able to solve this?' And we took a very long time. And in the end, the answer was no. There was no solution that we could find where we would continue in that way. And a part of me — it's such a big part of my life, and I'm very happy, I'm very proud with what we did in that time. So it's frustrating to me that we couldn't work it out. The thing that kind of comforts me is the fact that we did take so much time to explore all the different possibilities, like, could we make this work? Yeah, I don't feel like there was really another option. So that's why."

Asked if she still keeps in touch with DELAIN keyboardist, founder and main songwriter Martijn Westerholt, Charlotte said: "I ran into him at one point, but there's been no contact otherwise. And I think right after it, there's been some contact here and there, but that was about it."

Back in September 2022, Wessels was asked by Spain's The Metal Circus TV how she feels about the fact that DELAIN made a comeback with a new lineup. A month earlier, DELAIN released a single, "The Quest And The Curse", featuring Westerholt alongside new singer Diana Leah, original guitarist Ronald Landa and original drummer Sander Zoer, plus bassist Ludovico Cioffi. Charlotte said: "I'm trying not to engage with it too much, honestly. I've seen positive responses about it, which I think is good. But I do try to keep some distance and just focus on what I'm doing rather than checking that out, because I still don't feel like that will make me happier per se."

In February 2021, Westerholt announced the dissolution of DELAIN's previous lineup. At the time, he explained: "For the last year or so, the collaboration within the band ceased to work as well as it once had. Some of us were no longer happy with the current roles in the band. We all tried very hard to find a solution for over a year, but sadly we were unable to find one. As a result, we will all be going our own ways and pursuing our own endeavors.

"I am very sad our cooperation has come to end, but at the same time I am very grateful for all the years we were able to work together. Together we toured the world, shared highs and lows, and met with many successes as well as times that pushed us to learn and grow. We all enjoyed meeting our fans and making new friends all over the globe."

At the time, Wessels said about her departure: "I know that you might have questions about the 'why' in all of this. I fully understand and respect that. Simply put, it is the sad conclusion of more than a year of trying to find solutions to built-up grievances. Part of me feels like I'm letting all of you down, I'd like you to know that this decision was not taken lightly and I apologize to those of you who had high hopes of seeing all of us together live on stage again after lockdown. Until recently, I thought this might still be in the cards for us as well."

The new DELAIN lineup made its official live debut in August 2022 at the Riverside festival in Aarburg, Switzerland.

Wessels's new solo album, "The Obsession", came out in September via Napalm Records.

Melodic synth-metal masters DELAIN are set to break new ground with their upcoming EP, "Dance With The Devil", due on November 8 via Napalm Records. Following the success of their latest full-length opus, 2023's "Dark Waters", which debuted at No. 9 on both the U.S. Hard Music Albums chart and the official German album chart — this EP promises to showcase the best of DELAIN's discography while striding ahead into a future that promises to explore new, more synth-driven soundscapes than ever before.

The latest single from "Dance With The Devil" is "The Reaping", a gripping track which acts as a whirlwind of emotions articulating feelings of foreboding and sorrow through catchy electronic synth melodies and modern heaviness. It delves into collective themes, expressing disillusionment with the current path of society toward imminent and inescapable consequences. "The Reaping" is now available on all streaming services worldwide and comes along with an electrifying official music video, underlining this exceptional track with stunning high-quality visuals.

DELAIN founding member and band mastermind Martijn Westerholt states about "The Reaping": "'The Reaping' is a very expressive song with a serious subject — where the world/society is heading and metaphorical storms on the horizon. Musically the song can be recognized as a typical DELAIN song filled with heavy guitars, but also with the very recognizable '80s synth elements DELAIN is known for."

As their second release with a revitalized lineup anchored by Westerholt, "Dance With The Devil" features a thrilling collection of two brand new tracks, two newly presented favorites, nine electrifying live performances, and two instrumental bonus tracks, showcasing the best of their catchy, melodic signature sound with extensive electronic synth elements and fresh modern nuances.

The offering debuts with two gripping new tracks, "Dance With The Devil" and "The Reaping", serving as a whirlwind of emotions articulating feelings of anger and sorrow through catchy electronic synth melodies and modern heaviness. "The Reaping" delves into collective themes, expressing disillusionment with the current path of society toward imminent and inescapable consequences. Following these, the EP presents a brand-new version of "Sleepwalkers Dream", showcasing Diana Leah's voice and her breathtaking full vocal capacities. "Dance With The Devil" continues with nine live performances, featuring massively streamed hits from both the present and the past. These include "Burning Bridges", "The Quest And The Curse", "Moth To A Flame" and the massive hit "April Rain", which has been streamed over 10 million times, along with "Queen Of Shadow". In addition, the digipak edition features instrumental versions of "Dance With The Devil" and "The Reaping", as well as an alternate ending version of "Underland". DELAIN's new EP impressively underlines the unit's high-class standing in the scene and continues their voyage of setting fans' hearts ablaze!

Westerholt previously said: "We're thrilled to have brand new material ready to be released! In addition to the new songs, it was fantastic to have captured some magical live moments of our European tour earlier this year as live tracks for the EP. We're definitely very excited for this release and are really looking forward to bringing the new music to the stage!"

"Dance With The Devil" track listing:

01. Dance With The Devil
02. The Reaping
03. Sleepwalkers Dream (2024 version)
04. The Cold (live)
05. Burning Bridges (live)
06. The Quest And The Curse (live)
07. April Rain (live)
08. Invidia (live)
09. Queen Of Shadow (live featuring Paolo Ribaldini)
10. Your Body Is A Battleground (live featuring Paolo Ribaldini)
11. Moth To A Flame (live)
12. Control The Storm (live featuring Paolo Ribaldini)
13. Dance With The Devil (instrumental)
14. The Reaping (instrumental)
15. Underland (alternate ending version)

DELAIN is:

Martijn Westerholt - keyboards
Diana Leah - vocals
Ronald Landa - guitars and backing vocals
Ludovico Cioffi – bass and backing vocals
Sander Zoer - drums

Photo credit: Tim Tronckoe

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris over Republican Donald Trump for president.

Earlier today (Tuesday, November 5),Sebastian shared a photo of him wearing a Harris Walz '24 cap, and he included the following message: "We Officially Endorse @kamalaharris as President of the United States 🇺🇸#freedom #futureofyouth".

Three months ago, Bach was asked by Ultimate Classic Rock if his social media post in which he said was "endorsing Taylor Swift" could be taken as his own endorsement of Harris, since the pop superstar herself publicly endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate following the September presidential debate. Bach responded: "You know, I don't tell people what to do, but I will say that if we don't have democracy, we don't have anything. So there, I just said it. [Laughs]"

He continued: "People say, 'You're alienating your audience.' When I say things like that, I gain, like, 40,000 fucking followers! So this whole 'Don't alienate people' — there's only side that is fucking alienating people! There's only one! The other one is actually uniting people. So spare me, 'Oh, he's losing 50% of his audience.' I don't want that 50%, so fuck off! That 50% is not cool enough to listen to Sebastian Bach, so go fuck yourself."

Elaborating on why he feels a need to speak up, Sebastian said: "I just have a problem when I hear people say, 'I don't want musicians to say what they believe in. Just shut up and sing.' Well, I've got two words for you: BLACK SABBATH. When I listen to a song like 'War Pigs', I couldn't think of a more political lyric of any music there is in life than that fucking song. 'Generals gathered in their masses / Just like witches at black masses.' I mean, to me, that's saying, 'Fuck these assholes!'

"I feel that at times like these, there's too much at stake to be silent," he added. "To be silent is to be complicit. For every fucking Ted Nugent out there, there is a Sebastian Bach, and I'm fine with that. I'm good with that. You go say what you want to say, and I'm gonna say what I want to say."

Bach frequently criticized Donald Trump's policies in interviews and on Twitter during the former U.S. president's time in office. In July 2020, he told Esquire that he missed "smarts" in the White House. "I can't watch footage of JFK from 1962," he said. "I can't even watch that shit because I'll cry. Because motherfucker is so cool and so smart and hates racism. And then we have this fucking jackass. And it's just not fair to the country. I put Barack Obama in the same category. When I watch him speak, it rips my heart out because he makes you feel safe."

In August 2019, Sebastian lambasted America's 45th president, then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, then-Vice President Mike Pence and other Republican leaders for their inaction on gun regulation. A month earlier, Bach made headlines when he said that he "would do a better job" running the county than Trump.

In a 2018 interview with TheRecord.com, Sebastian revealed that he voted for Hilary Clinton in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, saying, "I don't understand how anybody would accept a reality show host as president instead of a politician. It's insanity. It's like starting a band and your first show is at Toronto SkyDome. You gotta build up to it."

In March 2020, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Bach wrote: "Our reality TV show host leader is a petulant little baby who doesn't believe in science when it's science and science only that will get us out of this science fiction novel. He is killing us." Bach later tweeted that Trump supporters are "complete fucking idiots" and claimed that "only a moron would vote for Donald Trump" in that year's presidential election.

In July 2020, Bach tweeted, "If you support Donald Trump you stand against rock 'n' roll".

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In a new interview with Vulture, SLIPKNOT co-founder and percussionist M. Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) was asked to name a song that reminds him of his late bandmates Paul Gray (bass) and Joey Jordison (drums). He said: "I miss them. You know, it's too much. I feel bad even doing interviews about our 25th anniversary because most of it lives with them. Their contributions to my life are incomprehensible. Yet here I am. It's really hard for me. I don't like that they don't get to talk. They are the two people you should be talking to right now. Now it's all memory. And, you know, not that many people try to take Paul from me but a lot of people try to take Joey from me because of the circumstances. But none of the band ever talk about that. Why would we? That's our brother. It's hard today because so many people have all these opinions on what Joey's thoughts might have been of me. A lot of humans like to tell you exactly what they know that I don't know. All I can tell you is that those are my brothers, and, love me or hate me, it doesn't matter. We did some shit."

He continued: "Whenever we play 'Vermillion', I think of Paul. I just remember him upstairs in the mansion whittling away at that song for weeks. He was a genius. And Joey, God, it's just about everything. Right now we're playing 'Scissors' and you can only play that song with his kind of ability, and we haven't been there for a long, long time. We're finally back there. It was a song where he'd really just go off. But even a song like 'Spit It Out', the way Joey demanded the attention in that song. He was like the conductor — everyone paid attention to him. I miss that."

Jordinson died "peacefully in his sleep" in July 2021 of an unspecified cause. He was 46 years old.

SLIPKNOT announced its split with Jordison in December 2013 but did not disclose the reasons for his exit. The drummer subsequently issued a statement saying that he did not quit the group.

Jordison and the members of SLIPKNOT had been silent and evasive about the reasons for his dismissal from the band, but Joey finally spoke about it in 2016 while accepting an award at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in London, England.

At the time, Joey claimed that he was fired from SLIPKNOT without a band meeting or "anything from management." He said: "All I got was a stupid fucking e-mail saying I was out of the band that I busted my ass my whole life to fucking create. That's exactly what happened and it was hurtful. I didn't deserve that shit after what I'd done and everything I'd been through.

"They got confused about my health issues and obviously even I didn't know what it was at first," he continued. "They thought I was fucked up on drugs, which I wasn't at all.

"I've been through so many things with those guys and I love them very much. What's hurtful is the way it went down was not fucking right. That's all I want to say. The way they did it was fucking cowardly. It was fucked up."

Back in 2014, SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor told Metal Hammer that firing Jordison after 18 years was "one of the hardest decisions" the group ever made, adding that Joey is "in a place in his life" which is "not where we are."

Gray was found dead on May 24, 2010 after overdosing on drugs in a hotel room in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, where he and SLIPKNOT were based. His family blamed the death on a Des Moines pain doctor, Daniel Baldi, who had treated Gray for years, and sued the doctor and his former employers.

Paul's wife, Brenna Gray, testified during Baldi's trial that she tried reaching out to some of Paul's bandmates in SLIPKNOT just days prior to the bassist's death but that none of them wanted to get involved. She revealed, "One was playing golf two minutes away from our house but couldn't come. Nobody else cared, nobody was involved. They told me it was my problem."

Brenna said in a 2011 interview with Revolver that her husband had agreed to get help for his drug problem just one day before he died.

After a lengthy hiatus, SLIPKNOT resumed touring in 2011, with Donnie Steele playing bass live. The band in 2014 secured the services of British musician Alessandro "Vman" Venturella to play bass on tour and in the studio.

Paul was 38 years old at the time of his death.

Fan-filmed video of DREAM THEATER's November 2 concert at at Sportovní Hala Fortuna in Prague, Czech Republic can be seen below.

The progressive metal legends played their first concert with Mike Portnoy in 14 years on October 20 at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom.

The drummer co-founded DREAM THEATER in 1985 with guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung. Mike played on 10 DREAM THEATER albums over a 20-year period, from 1989's "When Dream And Day Unite" through 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", before exiting the group in 2010. Portnoy returned to DREAM THEATER in October 2023 after being replaced by Mike Mangini, who played with DREAM THEATER across five studio albums and accompanying world tours.

London marked the kick-off concert of DREAM THEATER's 2024-2025 40th-anniversary tour. The European leg of the trek — presented as "An Evening With Dream Theater" — will run through November 24 in Amsterdam, hitting cities in numerous countries along the way.

The setlist for all the shows on DREAM THEATER's 40th-anniversary tour so far has been as follows, according to Setlist.fm:

Act I

01. Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle And The Sleeper (first time since 2017)
02. Act I: Scene Two: I. Overture 1928
03. Act I: Scene Two: II. Strange Déjà Vu
04. The Mirror (first time since 2014, with "Lie" outro)
05. Panic Attack (first time since 2015)
06. Barstool Warrior (first time with Mike Portnoy)
07. Hollow Years (first time since 2010; demo version)
08. Constant Motion (first time since 2015)
09. As I Am (first time since 2019)

Act II

10. Night Terror (live debut)
11. This Is The Life (first time since 2012, first time with Mike Portnoy)
12. Under A Glass Moon (first time since 2017)
13. Vacant (first time since 2006)
14. Stream Of Consciousness (first time since 2004)
15. Octavarium (first time in full since 2006)

Encore:

16. Act II: Scene Six: Home
17. Act II: Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On
18. Pull Me Under

In a new interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy spoke about what it was like to perform live again with the band after 14 years. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I said it to the guys right after the [first] show [of the tour in London on October 20], it's, like, 'We can all take a deep breath now and now we can start to have fun.' The first show was just so intense that even during the show, it just was a lot of concentration and there was so much expectations. And so now with that out of the way, we can actually take a deep breath and now start to enjoy it."

Asked if he was nervous before taking the stage in London, Mike said: "I'll admit — I was. I never, ever get nervous before a show, but it was nerve-racking. My first time back with the guys in, I guess, 14 years live, plus such a massive venue and so much expectations and focus on us that we knew we'd be under the microscope. So, yeah, it was actually nerve-racking."

Regarding whether the setlist for DREAM THEATER's 40th-anniversary tour will change as the tour progresses, Portnoy said: "Back in in my first tenure, I used to love changing the setlist every single night — not only to keep it interesting for the fans, but to keep it interesting for us as well, having been doing it for 25 years at that point before I left. So, that is something that I know is very special for the band and for the fans. But with me coming back now, we wanna get our tour legs back first. So the setlist will be what it is now for a little while. And then once everybody's comfortable, then we'll start to experiment and then I'll start to really get creative and start fucking with it. For the moment and for the the next little while, this is the setlist."

As for his mindset in picking the songs for the 40th-anniversary-tour setlist, Mike said: "I wanted to have a setlist that almost felt like a greatest-hits show. Not that we have a lot of hits, but ones that you know are popular, ones that you know that are always crowd pleasers. You always know which ones get the most energy, and we wanted to have a show that kind of represented the whole career of the band. It's impossible to cover every album, so that was never gonna be possible. We did that on the 20th-anniversary tour, but that was 20 years; there was eight albums to choose from. Now it's 16. So we can't possibly cover every album, but at least wanted to cover all of the different eras and throw in some surprises in there as well, a combination of both."

Portnoy co-founded DREAM THEATER in 1985 with guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung. Mike played on 10 DREAM THEATER albums over a 20-year period, from 1989's "When Dream And Day Unite" through 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", before exiting the group in 2010. Portnoy returned to DREAM THEATER in October 2023 after being replaced by Mike Mangini, who played with DREAM THEATER across five studio albums and accompanying world tours.

In an interview with Chile's Sonar FM, Portnoy was asked if he missed playing with DREAM THEATER during his time away from the group. He responded: "Well, of course, I always missed DREAM THEATER and the music and the guys and the fans. Not all DREAM THEATER fans went on the ride with me with all of my other bands. So, every time I would tour with SONS OF APOLLO or WINERY DOGS or SHATTERED FORTRESS or NEAL MORSE BAND, I would see someDREAM THEATER fans, but there's a big portion of the fanbase that wasn't with me for all those years. So yeah, I missed them and I missed the guys and I missed the music. We were always a family first and foremost."

Regarding the fact that he is once again in charge of coming up with the setlists for DREAM THEATER's live shows, Mike said: "Yeah, it's an area that was always my department and my passion. I always wrote all the setlists for DREAM THEATER, as well as any of my bands or projects. That's an area that's very important to me. And yeah, when I came back to DREAM THEATER, a lot of the things we have to figure out who's gonna be in charge of what. There's a lot of areas that I used to be in charge of, which now John [Petrucci, DREAM THEATER guitarist] may do, or maybe the band makes band decisions. So I have to kind of find my place within the band's chemistry now. But yeah, one of the things that they did give back to me was the setlist and writing the setlist. So yeah, it was something that was a lot of fun and exciting — a great open palette to work with, really. 40 years of music, and I haven't played any of this music with the guys in almost 15 years. So it's all so fresh. Back in 2010, I might have been bored with it, but now in 2024, I'm just as excited to play those songs as any of 'em."

On the topic of how different it is to play with DREAM THEATER in 2024 compared to how it was 14 years ago, Mike said: "There's two sides to that question. The first I'll say, personally, I think we're just all older and wiser, more mellow. I am not as much of a control freak as I used to be; I'm a lot more easygoing, a lot more mellow. So, yeah, there's the one side of the natural age of everybody just — we're now in our fifties and sixties, and I think we're just more mature and experienced. But the other side to that question is, like I just mentioned, finding my place within this new chemistry and overseeing every area. And then when I left the band, they needed to take some of these areas and divide them up amongst themselves and have different people overseeing different areas. And now that I'm coming back, I have to kind of see what's comfortable. I have to very much respect that they've had 13 years without me and they may do things a certain way differently now. So it's up to me to really be very respectful to that and not try to force myself in any of the areas. So anytime something comes up, whether we're talking about a setlist or the merchandise or how they wanna record in the studio, no matter what the subject is, it's always now, like, 'Okay, well, how do you guys do it now? How do you want me involved? Do you want me to oversee it? Do you want me to stay out of it? That's fine too.' And it's kind of like a learning process to find myself comfortable with the way that the band works now."

Portnoy recently told the "So...You Want To Be A Musician?" podcast about his mindset when rejoining DREAM THEATER: "At our ages, we realized when we decided to reunite and get back together, I'd be lying if I didn't say we didn't start to look in the mirror and look at the clock and say, who knows how much time we have left? The clock is ticking, and we realize we're not gonna be here forever. And we wanna spend whatever time we have left together making music with the people that we grew up with and the people that we love. So, yeah, that's kind of where we're at at this stage."

Portnoy admitted to Mariskal Rock that he "needed to get used to was being the 'new guy'" after rejoining DREAM THEATER, "being the new guy in a band that I helped form when I was a teenager. So it's a bit of a transition for me to go from being a bit of the leader, as I was back when I left the band, now I have to kind of find my way back into the chemistry and I need to respect the fact that they've been doing this for 13 years without me and they have maybe new ways of doing things, new ways of making decisions," he explained. "So … I have had to be very respectful for my role as the new guy and finding my way back into the chemistry of the band."

DREAM THEATER will release its sixteenth studio album, "Parasomnia", on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP marks the band's first release with Portnoy since 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings".

"Parasomnia" was produced by guitarist John Petrucci, engineered by James "Jimmy T" Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme returns once again to lend his creative vision to the cover art.

The first single, "Night Terror", is a musical thrill ride captured in the just shy of ten minutes listening experience. A music video for the song — directed by Mike Leonard — is now available.

BUCKCHERRY has entered a Nashville studio with producer Marti Frederiksen to begin recording the band's eleventh album.

On Monday, November 4, BUCKCHERRY shared the following message via social media: "Touched down in Nashville and TODAY we begin work on album number 11 with our good friend Marti Frederiksen + start makin' plans for 2025! You ready?! LET'S GOOOOOO!!"

Three months ago, BUCKCHERRY frontman Josh Todd spoke to the "Everblack" podcast about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to the band's 2023 album "Vol. 10". He said: "We already got record eleven written. We have a few more songs that we've gotta… We're about three songs short, and we'll get that done. And we're gonna record in November. And we'll have our eleventh record out next year sometime, probably before the summer."

"Vol. 10" came out in June 2023. The 11-song LP featured 10 new BUCKCHERRY originals and, as a bonus track, a cover of the Bryan Adams classic "Summer Of 69". The album was produced by Frederiksen and recorded at Sienna Studios in Nashville. The album was released in North America by Round Hill Records, in Japan by Sony Japan, and by Earache Records for the rest of the world.

Frederiksen previously produced 2021's "Hellbound" as well as BUCKCHERRY's fourth album, "Black Butterfly", and co-wrote "Sorry", among other songs, with the band.

In November 2023, BUCKCHERRY released a new holiday song called "Tell 'Em It's Christmas".

BUCKCHERRY previously released another holiday song, "Christmas Is Here", back in 2010.

In the summer of 2020, BUCKCHERRY recruited JETBOY's Billy Rowe as its new guitarist. He joined the group as the replacement for Kevin Roentgen, who left BUCKCHERRY in July of that year.

In 2019, BUCKCHERRY enlisted Francis Ruiz as its new drummer. He joined the group as the replacement for Sean Winchester, who exited BUCKCHERRY after laying down the drum tracks on "Warpaint".

Touched down in Nashville and TODAY we begin work on album number 11 with our good friend Marti Frederiksen + start makin' plans for 2025! You ready?! LET'S GOOOOOO!! 👊💥

Posted by Buckcherry on Monday, November 4, 2024

In a new interview with the Life Is Peachy podcast, FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares spoke about the circumstances that led to the 2020 departure of the band's original singer Burton C. Bell. Cazares said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "[After] I [came] back with FEAR FACTORY, we released four records. Me and Burton got sued by [former FEAR FACTORY members] Christian [Olde Wolbers, bass] and Raymond [Herrera, drums] for monies owed. We owed them money. I ended up beating my lawsuit against those guys, but Burton ended up losing his lawsuit against those guys and has to pay them a million dollars. So Burton decides to quit the band. And he said a lot of things in the press, like he only did FEAR FACTORY out of necessity, he only did FEAR FACTORY 'cause he needed money, he didn't believe a lot of the lyrics he was writing, and blah, blah, blah, blah. He said he felt restrained doing FEAR FACTORY, he felt like he was pigeonholed doing FEAR FACTORY. And that's fine. I ended up winning my lawsuit against the guys, against Raymond and Christian.

"One of the biggest misconceptions is that people thought that I sued Burton, but that's not true," Cazares clarified. "It was Raymond and Christian who sued us individually. We had separate lawsuits. They sued us separately so they can get separate money. So if they would have won my lawsuit, I would have had to give them a million dollars. I won my lawsuit against them. I didn't owe them anything. But, actually, Burton filed for bankruptcy, and when he filed for bankruptcy, he tried to get out of paying those guys. And, unfortunately, he lied in his bankruptcy. That's a federal offense. Raymond and Christian took him back to court, made him open up the bankruptcy. The bankruptcy was null and void. So Burton had to pay back those guys, and they took all of Burt's assets. Assets, meaning whatever you own, whether it's a house, a car, a trademark, copyright, business, so on and so on. They took all that away from him for lying in court.

"When you go through a bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court sells your assets to try to make money back, to pay back the people you owe money to," Dino continued. "So, when I found out that Burton's assets were up for sale, my lawyer contacted the court of Pennsylvania and said, 'Hey, look, we're interested in buying this FEAR FACTORY trademark,' Burton's half. At this point, I owned half and Burton owned half. Raymond and Christian did not own the name at all whatsoever. They were only owed money. That's it. But they didn't own the trademark. Even though they tried to take the trademark from us and try to find every possible way to do that. 'Cause that's what lawyers do, right? They were not successful. So, the bankruptcy court owned Burton's half of the trademark. They put it up for sale. It's like eBay. They auction it off. So I had to place a bid if I wanted that trademark. And that's what I did. I put a bid up. Now, Burton couldn't buy his own assets back because he already lied in court. It was a federal offense. So he couldn't buy his assets back. So he didn't even have the opportunity to do that legally. I figured, 'Hey, I'm gonna try to buy this name.' And I wanted to bring Burton and say, 'Hey, look, I got the name. Let's just continue.' So I put a bid up for the trademark. They wanted a lot of money for it. And Raymond and Christian put a bid up for it as well. But eventually I ended up winning the bid, I ended up winning the auction, and I owned Burton's half of the name, which meant I owned full 100 percent of the trademark of FEAR FACTORY. So I reached out to Burton and I said, 'Hey, just come back 50-50,' which I found out technically, even though I bought Burton's 50 percent of the trademark, I couldn't give it to him. I couldn't legally buy it and then give it to him because if I did, then that means I was colluding and buying a name and just giving it to him. It goes against what the court's orders were. So I couldn't even do that, but I could pay Burton 50 percent of whatever we earned as FEAR FACTORY. Now there was a problem with that. The problem was Raymond and Christian froze his assets.

"If Burton would have come back to FEAR FACTORY, whatever he earns from FEAR FACTORY, a percentage of that would have to go to Raymond and Christian to pay back the million of dollars," Cazares explained. "So Burton didn't wanna go out there on tour and [be] working his ass off and having to pay those guys a percentage of what he earns on tour. Basically, whatever money is earned from Burton Bell's name in FEAR FACTORY, that goes to Raymond and Christian. So in other words, if the song 'Replica' earns money on Spotify, that money goes to Raymond and Christian's lawyers. It's kind of like child support. If you're a guy having to pay child support, but you happen to be that guy that doesn't pay his child support, the court can go after your money that you're earning from your job. They could take a percentage of that money and pay your kids. That's basically what was happening to Burt. Now, Burt can go get a regular job. Let's say he went got a job at [McDonald's]. He wouldn't have to give him a portion of that money, because that's not being earned by FEAR FACTORY. I could be wrong. There might be some technicalities where I'm a little wrong, but it's basically what happened. So, in reality, me playing the FEAR FACTORY songs live goes to pay back Burton's debt to those guys. But Burton doesn't see that."

Dino added: "There's a whole other side to it that fans just don't know. And I get it. They're not in this industry. They're just a fan listening to the songs and they don't understand how all this works."

Regarding the possibility of the classic FEAR FACTORY lineup reuniting at some point in the future, Cazares said: "Listen, sure, it's easy for all four of us to get together, but it wouldn't be easy to do business with them, it wouldn't be easy to write songs with them and it wouldn't be easy because somebody would have to be in control of that ship and that would be me. Not anybody else. That's not gonna work. Look what happened to JANE'S ADDICTION. They got back together. [Laughs] Burton pretty much said, 'Ah, fuck you, Dino. I'm not coming back. Fuck that. I'm over it.' So I'm, like, 'Okay, I'll do what I normally do. Put a [new version of the] band together and fucking do it.' It's not like I haven't been there before. I still have the fire, the drive, the passion to do this. And I think that's owed to the FEAR FACTORY fans. The FEAR FACTORY fans wanna hear the FEAR FACTORY songs like they are on the record. They wanna hear the songs. They grew up with those songs, they still listen to those songs, and then when we go out there and play, we're gonna give it the best that we can do. And it's pretty fucking good."

Anticipating the negative feedback he will likely receive from the metal community for his comments, Dino said: "Now, do you realize that when you put this [episode of the podcast] out and you start sending stuff to all the metal sites [to cover what was said], this is gonna spark up some drama. It's also gonna spark up some, like, 'Oh, isn't Dino over it by now?' It's not that it's something I need to get over. It's just what happened. That's all it is. This is just a story — my story of what happened. That's all it is. And I have no ill will towards any of those other guys. None. As a matter of fact, I've spoken to Christian quite a few times already… I have no ill will towards those guys, but there are reasons why people are not in my life anymore. That is my choosing. I don't like to go back to people that have hurt me multiple times. And that's just how it is. But I have no ill will towards those guys at all whatsoever. And I wish them success in whatever they do."

FEAR FACTORY's current lineup also features Milo Silvestro on vocals, Tony Campos on bass, and Pete Webber on drums.

FEAR FACTORY played its first headlining concert with Silvestro and Webber on May 5, 2023 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

Dutch symphonic metal titans, Epica, recently unleashed their eeriest creation yet, the spine-chilling music video for "The Ghost In Me (Danse Macabre)", a haunting track that lures listeners into a world where shadows dance and the afterlife whispers.


Today, Epica shares the live video below, stating: "Epicans! Brace yourselves… the moment has arrived. You’ve called for it, and now the full live specter of 'The Ghost In Me (Danse Macabre)' from The Symphonic Synergy show at @afaslive is here to haunt your screens!"







"The Ghost In Me (Danse Macabre)" is a unique collaboration with Europe’s second-most visited theme park, Netherlands’s magical De Efteling, and their much-anticipated new attraction, Danse Macabre.


Drenched in ghostly imagery, the video mirrors the unsettling thrill of De Efteling’s new ride, which opens its gates on October 31, right in time for this Halloween season. Ever since their childhood, every member of Epica has loved this theme park that welcomes over 5 million visitors per year. Therefore, this collaboration was a true match made in the otherworld.


Submerge yourself now in the music video which was filmed right inside and in front of the new attraction - and as if this wasn’t already exciting enough, the band even received their very own “Epica gravestone” that you can spot, if you look closely.


Epica’s keyboard player, Coen Janssen, comments: “Every kid in the Netherlands knows how magical ‘de Efteling’ is, and working this closely with the most beautiful theme park in the world surely is a dream come true! As a young boy, I immediately got captivated by the “Danse Macabre” by Saint-Saëns as a soundtrack for their haunted house “Spookslot”. So when ‘de Efteling’ announced their new plans for the ghostly attraction “Danse Macabre” all pieces of the puzzle fell into place immediately: Why not combine our sy

Rotting Christ performed on the Ronnie James Dio Main Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival 2024. On August 9, the legendary Greek black metal band enthralled thousands in Derbyshire with their ritualistic soundscapes and powerful presence. Their set featured songs spanning their rich discography, epitomizing their dedication to crafting immersive, intense live performances.


In this featured clip, experience the electrifying performance of “Societas Satanas”. The track's eerie riffs, thunderous rhythms, and deep, guttural vocals epitomize the sound that has defined Rotting Christ since the late ‘80s. Showcasing their ability to evoke both atmosphere and intensity, the band merges rhythmic simplicity with raw, almost tribal energy that resonates with audiences worldwide.


Rotting Christ remains a pioneering force in Greek black metal, ever-expanding the genre’s reach. This Bloodstock performance underscores their technical skill and stage command, amplified by the passion of fans and hauntingly powerful soundscapes. Enter the dark domain of Rotting Christ’s mastery in this unforgettable live experience.







Rotting Christ recently released the video below, featuring their performance of the Pro Xristou album track, "Like Father Like Son", filmed at Lithuania's Kilkim Žaibu X

DOPE leader Edsel Dope, who is widely rumored to be Xer0, the masked frontman of STATIC-X, was asked in a new interview with The Adventures Of Pipeman about his role in helping bassist Tony Campos, drummer Ken Jay and guitarist Koichi Fukuda keep the STATIC-X legacy alive. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " I was always a big STATIC-X fan and the two bands have so much synergy. We both came out in 1999. If you look back at the touring that the two bands did as we were cutting our teeth, aside from Ozzfest, practically every tour that both bands did, we did together. It was like STATIC-X, DOPE, POWERMAN 5000; STATIC-X, DOPE, FEAR FACTORY; STATIC-X and DOPE and SEVENDUST; and STATIC-X and DOPE by ourselves. We did 250 shows together in the span of our first album. That's a lot of connectivity to those same fans. So, I felt like I had a real clear vision as a fan and as a friend and as a band that unlike STATIC-X, who always had a major label, always had a big management firm, without all of that, and especially without their main guy, Wayne [Static] there, they, for a lack of better words, were in very unfamiliar territory. Whereas for me, I had built an independent infrastructure over the last several years. And as a fan of STATIC-X, I looked at it sitting down with Tony and going, 'I think I can help you guys. With the 20 years of building my own independent infrastructure, you can sort of just put this through that same prism. And you guys are very close to this. So I'm sure you've had ideas of how to bring this back. But as a fan of the band, I know what I would like to see.'

"Of course, everything's gonna be received with skepticism and, like, 'I don't know about this,' and there was a lot of that, 'No Wayne Static, no STATIC-X' in the beginning," he continued. "But, again, if you're doing it for the right reasons and you have a vision for something that really can help the music live and can really help people have those experiences… I know how much I miss the band, and I know that I'm one of millions of fans out there that wanted to get fucking hammered and listen to 'I'm With Stupid' loud and live in a room and going, like, 'We're never gonna have those experiences again.' Well, how can we change that and do it in the right way to where people can not feel guilty when they're smiling at a STATIC-X show? Because in the beginning, it's a mourning, it's sad. But that was a big part of it, was to keep throwing as much positive energy and, for a lack of better words, fun at it, because STATIC-X was always such a fun band with fun songs. There's a lot of metal bands that are serious. That wasn't STATIC-X. STATIC-X was always this fun, almost smile-on-your-face metal band. So it was important for us to figure out how to reconnect fans to that and allow them to participate in a STATIC-X experience without feeling guilty about it."

When host Pipeman noted that some bands try to find "replacements" for original singers, Edsel said: "Or they try to move on. They try to rebrand it as something new. And it was, like, STATIC-X is a legacy band, bro. You try to take the legacy out, what the fuck are you doing? You're trying to take the Wayne Static out of STATIC-X, what are you doing? Why would you do that? So I don't know. To me, it wasn't hard. It was just, again, trying to make sure that you really make it fun and let it be about the music. And then, with today's technology, we were able to look at 'evil disco' as something more than a sound and go, 'Well, how do we represent the visual of evil disco?' Because STATIC-X really checked out in, like, 2009. So 10, 12, 15 years of technology development for LED screens and just big production props that didn't really exist back then that you can put through the evil disco filter. And there was a lot of really cool, fun shit to come out of that too. So I couldn't be more proud and more happy for my friends who are able to go out there and continue on with something that they all worked very hard on."

Dope continued: "STATIC-X was — of course, Wayne was the head chef. He was the Gordon Ramsey of it. But if you take any one of those guys away from that first album when the band was really defining their sound, it's not the same band. Imagine 'Wisconsin Death Trip' without Tony Campos's voice and without his low-end thunder. It was a huge part of the sound. Kenny was the guy that got in his car and moved from the Midwest out to L.A. with Wayne to start the band. That's your partner in crime, dude. It doesn't happen without that. And then Koichi came in at the end and was, like, 'Oh, I play guitar, but I do lots of programming.' And he was a big part of that electronic techno rave sound that made 'Wisconsin Death Trip' not just an industrial album, but almost like a techno rave evil disco album. So all four of those guys together are responsible for that sound, and to think that those guys wouldn't be able to go out and celebrate the anniversaries of that album that went platinum, it wouldn't have been fair. So I'm really happy for them because it was such an achievement for all of them. And also for Wayne's family who's been part of this with us the whole time and gets to watch their son's band go to another level, which — and I say this with respect, at the end, Wayne wasn't doing well and the community wasn't really supporting his choices anymore either. And rightfully so. So he's caught up in all of this refound success. And in many ways, it allows us to sort of overlook those darker years at the end where he was kind of phoning it in and didn't really care anymore because he was just caught in another trip. So it's really nice for the legacy of the whole thing that the band has been so successful in bringing it back and bringing it to a new generation of fans that can appreciate it. And I can say this with the most purity in the world that there's no doubt in my mind Wayne Static is more on the minds and in the hearts of the fans than he's ever been. And what more can you ask for than that?"

Back in February 2023, Edsel was asked in an interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio about the decision to keep Xer0's identity "private" and not publicly name the person who has spent much of the last three years performing and touring alongside Campos, Jay and Fukuda. He said: "Really and truthfully, it's not so much about it being private as it is about respecting the brand of STATIC-X and retaining the respect when writing or discussing it. And a good example I can use for that is GHOST. Everybody knows that there's a dude called Tobias that's behind the paint, but when people write about GHOST, they don't call him Tobias; they respect the entity and they call him Papa whatever the fuck he is. And that's because they respect the creative, they respect the artistic integrity of it enough to honor that.

"With STATIC-X, we knew very early on that we were not going to have the overwhelming support of the media and the community," Edsel continued. "And in the world that we live in, most people's goal is not to be supportive; it's to try and tear things down. It's to try and be the one to uncover and let you know that there is no Santa Claus or whatever it is. So, for me, it was more about making sure that STATIC-X was properly represented, because I would never be interested in looking at a photo of STATIC-X or reading a liner note that mentions me as being the singer of STATIC-X. Edsel Dope has no interest in being the singer of STATIC-X. There's one living, breathing singer of STATIC-X, and that's Wayne Static. And then there's a character, an entity, for lack of better words, that was created in order to allow STATIC-X to have a future and to continue and be the legacy act that they are and tour and perform, and we gave that character a name that is respective to STATIC-X and fits the branding of what STATIC-X is, and that's what the importance is. It's the importance of recognizing the character as opposed to recognizing the person behind the character."

Dope added: "You have to understand that if we didn't make that an absolute mission of ours that people would shit all over it and they would have done everything they could to discredit it. And if it wereEdsel Dope singing for STATIC-X, it would be, 'Oh, it's STATIC DOPE.' Or if it was Burton [C. Bell] from FEAR FACTORY, it would be, like, 'Oh, STATIC FACTORY.' It's, like, 'Go fuck yourself.' You can't give people the ability to control your narratives or else they're gonna control it in the worst fucking way possible, because, for whatever reason, that's the culture that we currently exist in. If it was 25 years ago, we wouldn't have any of this mess because we'd call the editor of fucking Rolling Stone magazine and go, 'Hey, dude, we're gonna let you in on what's happening,' and they would go, 'Oh, this is great,' and they would get behind it and they would properly help you tell your story to the world. But in the world that we currently live in, that's not the goal. The goal is, as I said, to be the naysayer and to be the one who lets you in on the fact that there is no Santa Claus and ruins the parade for everybody because they're just dicks."

When Erickson noted that social media has given everyone a voice, which in turn has turned out to be more of "negative than a positive", Dope concurred. "A hundred percent," he said. "And it's not just the people on the message boards. It's the people that deliver the news too. And it's really sad because heavy metal, whatever you wanna call it, we're absolutely the minority when it comes to the overarching pie of music listeners. There's no doubt that heavy metal music is a much smaller demographic than pop music or rap music or any of those things. So you would think that the news outlets that are popular for being the news-gathering outlets for this type of music, you would think that they would go more out of their way to paint artists in this genre in a more favorable light. But if you notice, half their goal is to rip everybody down, half their goal is to create drama for clicks or to put the worst picture that they can of Sebastian Bach up when they talk bad about him, or whatever it is; they just have these motives. Why would you do nothing but tear down the artists in the genre that's already struggling so hard to stay alive? Why wouldn't you paint those artists in a better light? Why wouldn't you be more supportive? Everything's a joke; everything's a dig. It doesn't mean that I have thin skin — I have thicker skin than fucking anybody — it just means that I don't understand the motive behind it except for that you're just a money-grubbing scumbag who wants clicks. Meanwhile you'll rip on everybody else's integrity, but what are you doing? You're not doing anything for the betterment of the cause. All you're doing is pitting people against each other and tearing a community down to a lower spot. It makes no sense to me."

Circling back to the original question, Edsel said: "So, unfortunately, we had to take this approach with STATIC-X and with the character of Xer0 to avoid people from spinning their own narratives and turning it into something that was different from what it actually was. I think we've accomplished that. And again, I say the same thing: Edsel Dope has absolutely no desire to be known as the singer of STATIC-X; it's not my gig. You wanna talk to me about the creative process? All day long I'll talk about producing the records, I'll talk about being their friend, I'll talk about managing the band and the strategy that goes into it and the infrastructure of starting their own label. Because STATIC-X is a band that up until 'Project Regeneration', every album that they ever released was on a major label — it was either on Warner Brothers or on Reprise. Whereas DOPE became an independent band very early in my career, so I was able to go and build an independent infrastructure and understand how all that works. But my friends in STATIC-X had no fucking clue; they don't know how to run a record label, [and] they don't know how to run their own business. So when I'm sitting in a room with them and going, 'Guys, if we're gonna do this, this is the most logical way to do it to remove the gatekeepers from in between you and your fans,' they had somebody to rely on that had that experience and had that infrastructure and wherewithal.

"So it's been super beneficial for all of us," Dope added. "And we were always friends, but now we're like the best of friends. And we owe each other a lot. I'm grateful for the opportunity because without those guys and the years of work they put into building STATIC-X, I wouldn't have a project to land all those efforts too. And for them, without my efforts to help them survive and exist in the modern day, they would have this band that is no longer around. For lack of a better word, we literally brought STATIC-X back from the dead. And it took all
of us to do it."

STATIC-X's eighth studio album, "Project Regeneration: Vol. 2", was released in January. The LP is a collection of songs that contain the final vocal performances and musical compositions of Static, along with the original "Wisconsin Death Trip" lineup featuring Campos, Fukuda and Jay. The new album was produced by Xer0 and mixed/mastered by longtime collaborator Ulrich Wild.

All of the music associated with "Project Regeneration: Vol. 2" is the result of collaborations between the four founding members along with their new vocalist/guitarist/producer Xer0. No additional guests appear on the album and there were no outside contributions to the songwriting, musical compositions, or the performances on "Project Regeneration: Vol. 2". Between the two releases, STATIC-X fans around the globe have been treated to over two dozen brand new songs — most of which feature Static on lead vocals — and all released after his untimely passing.

With Black 'n' White Sessions, former Burning Witches vocalist Seraina Telli is releasing a very special album on November 15th via Metalville Records


Black 'n' White Sessions shows where Seraina's musical roots lie: she has reduced her music to the essentials and almost completely freed herself from electricity. She has always sung, written songs in her head, and always has an acoustic guitar in the trunk of her car for emergencies.


After her #1 album, Addicted To Colour, the artist presents herself in a completely new light. It showcases Seraina's talent and the captivating songs from her first two albums without any harsh and heavy-sounding instruments in the background.

Symphonic melodic metal overlords, Rhapsody Of Fire, performed in Madrid, Spain  at Sala Copérnicoon on November 1st. Fan-filmed video of the entire show can be viewed below.


Setlist: 


"The Dark Secret"
"Unholy Warcry"
"I'll Be Your Hero" 
"Chains of Destiny"  
"The March of the Swordmaster" 
"Challenge the Wind" 
"March Against the Tyrant" 
"Diamond Claws" 
"The Magic of the Wizard's Dream" 
"Dawn of Victory"




Encore: 
"Reign of Terror"
"Kreel's Magic Staff" 
"Land of Immortals"
"Emerald Sword" 





Rhasody Of Fire are currently on a European tour in support of their new studio album, Challenge The Wind, available via AFM Records.


The trek, which features support of select dates from Freedom Call, The Unity, Secre

Tak Matsumoto Group (TMG) - the internationally acclaimed project formed by guitar virtuoso Tak Matsumoto with Jack Blades (Night Ranger) and Eric Martin (Mr. Big) - are pleased to share their new single, “Crash Down Love”, alongside a teaser video.


The track opens the band's new studio album, TMG II, which is currently available digitally, with the physical CD release slated for December 6. Watch the teaser video below:







About the new album, Jack Blades comments: “TMG ll has a fresh and alive feel born out of the friendship and camaraderie that Tak, Eric and I share with each other. Throw in a healthy dose of my good buddy Matt Sorum on drums and you have a hell of a recipe for some seriously kick ass rock n roll. The songs tell the stories, the music rocks the soul, and woven throughout the fabric is the amazing guitar playing of Tak Matsumoto... a true “Guitar Hero”. Enjoy the ride!”


“I was the singer of the Tak Matsumoto group in 2004. We had an incredible experience, writing / recording a heavy melodic hard rock state of the art sounding record that went platinum, sold out tour all over Japan, It was perfect timing and one of the biggest highlights of my life”, states Eric Martin.


“Tak Matsumoto is the guitarist, main composer, producer of B’z!, the best music selling Rock act in Japan! So here we are, 20 years later… This time we have powerhouse drummer Matt Sorum from Guns & Roses /Velvet Revolver/ The Cult and B’z support guitarist / chorus Yukihide ‘YT’ Takiyama to round out the group”, continues Martin. “TMG ll has got a Japanese / American rock feel to it and it’s badass. We are on tour right now in Japan and killing it. I am hanging with the coolest musicians on the planet… Life is good. The record… is really good!”


After a 20-year hiatus, TMG returns with original members Tak Matsumoto (guitarist and member of the Japanese rock superstars B’z), Jack Blades (Night Ranger), and Eric Martin (Mr. Big), reigniting the powerhouse trio’s signature rock sound. Originally launched in 2004, TMG wowed fans worldwide with their unique fusion of hard-hitting rock and oriental influences. Now after two decades, they’re set to do it all again.


“Twenty-one years ago, I met Jack and Eric at The Fillmore in San Francisco. I suggested we collaborate, and that’s how TMG was born. We came together in LA to write our first single, “Oh Japan”, which sparked the creation of our debut album, TMG I, and an incredible tour throughout Japan, ending with a memorable performance at the Budokan. Though we’ve stayed in touch, life pulled us in different directions, and two decades slipped by. In 2022, I reached out with a proposal to reunite.”


“Now, in 2024, TMG has completed our latest album, TMG II, featuring the talented drummer Matt Sorum. We’re excited to share this album, a blend of Japanese and American musical sensibilities. We hope you enjoy it!”, adds Matsumoto.


Buy and listen to TMG II here.





TMG II tracklisting:


"Crash Down Love"
"Eternal Flames" (Feat. Babymetal)
"The Story Of Love" (Feat. Lisa)
"Color In The World"
"Jupiter And Mars"
"My Life"
"Endless Sky"
"Dark Island Woman"
"Faithful Now"
"The Great Divide"
"Guitar Hero"


"Guitar Hero" teaser video:





"Eternal Flames":

DROWNING POOL guitarist C.J. Pierce spoke to The Metal Forge about the band's new single "Revolution (The Final Amen)", which was released on September 20 via SBG Records. It marks the first piece of music Pierce and his longtime bandmates — drummer Mike Luce and bassist Stevie Benton — completed with singer Ryan McCombs in 13 years.

"We're having more fun now than ever before, C.J. said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "And Mike Luce, our drummer, and Stevie Benton, the bass player, and myself, we've been friends and known each other since high school. So we've definitely been through the rollercoaster ride, obviously, with singers. Unfortunately, Dave [Williams, original DROWNING POOL singer] passed away from cardiomyopathy, heart disease, at 30 years old, man. It's still wild to me. But mostly the music business, man, between labels and management and all the stuff, that's been the real kicker for us, if anything. But to come together as us — it's a four-piece and we're independent right now and we're doing what we wanna do and we're having fun doing it, man, and that's the way to go. We're having, like I said, more fun now than I ever knew I'd be having playing music."

Regarding how the music business has changed since DROWNING POOL's formation nearly 30 years ago, Pierce said: "We don't have a label of management or anything like that [right now]. We're a hundred percent just — we do everything… It's still a learning curve. It's been a quite a learning curve, music business-wise, because it's changed drastically since I've been doing it and learning the ropes and the new way of doing things. And we have a team of people that work with us now that we found. Again, another thing that makes it in a great place because we're in full control of our career and there isn't anybody to answer to but ourselves. I can't get mad at a label or a manager now because we make the call, which makes you work even harder. We have people in play that that's what they're there to do and help out, and they haven't for us so much in the past."

Asked if DROWNING POOL now owns the masters to the band's early recordings, including the platinum-certified debut album, 2001's "Sinner", C.J. said: "We got the full — the screwed contracts, if you will. There's no mansion and cars, man. I rent a home and I'm leasing a car… That's why another thing that's exciting about putting out the first [new] single with Ryan, 'Revolution', is we're putting out on our own, breaking into that world finally and getting underneath that umbrella of things. But, yeah, they [the labels] own all the stuff in the past."

Addressing the fact that pop superstar Taylor Swift has reworked some of her own songs as new recordings, resulting in new masters she fully owns, enabling her to control the licensing of her songs for commercial use, known as synchronization, by evading the owners of the older masters and subsequently devaluing them, C.J. said: "I'd like to do some re-records just because Ryan's here again and he's stronger than ever 'cause he still sings with SOIL and sings with us. And he's more positive and motivated than I've ever seen this guy. So, there's a lot of songs in the past that we've done that I just think his voice sounds better on it. So for that reason alone, just for the art, and, like, 'Oh, this song would sound great with Ryan on it' is why we wanna do stuff. I mean, you've still gotta pay the bills and stuff, there's a business to it, but it's not the number one motivation to play music. It's definitely enjoying the music and writing what you feel from your heart and not trying to write to fit in in this style or that style. We really focus on who we are and what we're trying to say within the song."

Last month, Pierce told Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program "Wired In The Empire", that DROWNING POOL began working on new music right away after McCombs rejoined the group in early 2023: "He came in and we started writing stuff before we even talked about the first show, man," he said. "We sat out here. I have a big gazebo in my backyard, and I have the house set up… My house looks like Guitar Center out there, man. It's a home studio, if you will, and it's just a place of creativity, man. We just started working on stuff. There was one or two riffs and songs that we had worked on that we touched on that we were working on right before we took the hiatus, which is pretty cool. I'd like to finish those. But we've been through so much the last 13 years, so we have a lot of things to share and write about, especially what's going on nowadays. So we're that kind of band that writes what you feel at the time. So a lot of ideas on the plate.'

Regarding DROWNING POOL's plans to release a new full-length album, C.J. said: "We plan on finish up a couple more tracks in the next two weeks before we go out on this next tour. And then we have a little bit of break at the end of the year, and I wanna get back in there and try to finish up some more songs. So we do plan on putting out a record here at some point next year, and then leading into the 25th anniversary of [DROWNING POOL's debut album] 'Sinner' the year after that [in 2026], man. It's pretty wild. We have a lot of stuff coming up."

Asked if "Revolution (The Final Amen)" was the first new song he and McCombs worked on, Pierce said: "It's the first thing that came up right away, man. I started jamming that riff literally out on my gazebo, and then Ryan started singing along to it. And then we went in the room, just rehearsing for the shows that were coming up with Ryan, and we just started jamming that riff like we do, man. We get a lot of stuff done. We're still an organic band. We love to get in that rehearsal room and just hash it out together. Sometimes I'll come up with ideas here at my house or Steve will come up ideas at his house, and once we bring them all together in a room, it really makes it a DROWNING POOL song. But that song, we spent a lot of time on it as well because we wanna come out with every song that sounds strong. We didn't wanna just, 'Oh, Ryan's back,' and just shit out some song, man. We mean what we said. We put a lot of time and effort into our art and what we wanna say with the song, and I'm glad that we did that. It took a little longer just because we started touring so much… So it was just us getting into the studio to get it down. And here it is, man. Finally."

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

In a separate interview with iHeart Radio personality Debbie Sexxton, Pierce stated about "Revolution (The Final Amen)": "Yeah, it was great working on the song together. It's the first one with all of us back with Ryan, and we spent a lot of time on it. We started on it, actually, beginning of last year. And just between touring and stuff like that, we weren't able to get it down yet. But the whole process, all of us working together, I mean, we literally sat down at a table and we all had different ideas and every one of us kind of approached the song in a different way. And then we came together as a band. It was just amazing. That sounds like a DROWNING POOL song. That's what we want it to sound like. It sounds like us with Ryan."

Regarding the lyrical themes covered in the new DROWNING POOL single, Pierce said: "We spent a lot of time trying different things out to make sure all the bases were covered and we came across with the message lyric-wise too. We had a couple of different rewrites and redrafts just to make sure the flow is right to get the point across. It's more of a general thing about what's going on now. We definitely need a big change — not specific to any country or government or religion as much as just as a whole. It's more [about] planet earth."

In August, Pierce told the "Thunder Underground" podcast about the musical direction of the new DROWNING POOL song: "I'm so excited, man. It just came out naturally. We never tried to write like a 'Bodies Part Two' or a 'Tear Away Part Two'. We just write what we feel at the time, and the excitement that we had and the energy we have with Ryan being back in the band, the song definitely has that vibe to it. It's in drop C [tuning], and I got a new wah pedal in the studio when I was doing the song. So I'm wah-pedaling all over just like on [DROWNING POOL's] 'Sinner' record. So it has that old-school vibe to it. The people that have heard it so far, that's what they relate it to. It's got that same type of energy. It's its own song and entity. But yeah, it's intense, man. It's a banger."

In July, McCombs was asked by 94 Rocks KFML's "The Dark" rock music program if the sound of the new DROWNING POOL material harkens back to what Ryan did with the band in the past, McCombs said: "It's C.J. It's Stevie. It's Mike. It's myself. We did a couple of really — not to toot our own horn — I think we did a couple really good albums back in the day. And we pick up right where we left off.

"I think the coolest thing about DROWNING POOL is it's really easy with DROWNING POOL to separate things with the singers, as far as eras go, but there's always been the DROWNING POOL sound," Ryan continued. "There's always been a certain aspect of just the tones and everything. So it's still just like it always has been — DROWNING POOL."

In June, Pierce told Scott Penfold of Loaded Radio that he and his DROWNING POOL bandmates are once again working with producer Shawn McGhee. "He has his own studio," C.J. explained. "We did the last record with him as well. We did [2022's] 'Strike A Nerve' [with him]. And he's just a great guy to work with. He's on the same page as us and a great friend and a great musician and a killer producer and mixer. So, we love working with Shawn. He really knows how to capture what we're trying to do, man. That's the kind of producer you want. We put him in a driver's seat and somebody you can trust to have that outside ear to take what we have already and elevate it."

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.

Photo courtesy of O'Donnell Media Group