Tomas Lindberg of Swedish melodic death metal pioneers AT THE GATES is receiving "around-the-clock" care at an unspecified hospital after being diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC),a rare, slow-growing but aggressive cancer that typically develops in the salivary glands, particularly the minor salivary glands of the head and neck.

Earlier today, AT THE GATES released the following statement via social media: "We want to take a moment to update you on what's been happening with AT THE GATES, and to do so, we need to take you back about a year and a half.

"Below, you'll find a message from Tomas, written this past March 2025, where he reflects on the past 15 months and the reasons for the radio silence. However, in early May, Tomas experienced a health setback. Since then, he has been hospitalised and has been receiving dedicated care in a specialized ward where he is being closely monitored around the clock.

"While this is a challenging time, we're staying positive but, even in a best-case-scenario we know the recovery will take a long time.

"We kindly ask that you respect Tomas' and his family's privacy during this period.

"We know how much the band and the music mean to him — Tomas is incredibly proud of the new AT THE GATES album we've been working on, and we will try to get you more details on this upcoming release very soon.

"Thank you for your ongoing support, patience, and understanding.

Tomas's original statement, written back in March but only now released by his AT THE GATES bandmates, reads as follows: "Hello everyone. I guess some of you may have been wondering why it has been so silent on the AT THE GATES front lately. Well, in December 2023, I was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (a cancer in the mouth and palate) and have since then gone through a lot, it has been a very tough year. First there was a major surgery, where they took away a big part of the roof of the mouth. This was followed by radiation therapy for two months, and ever since it has been a long hard path towards recovery. Now, in the beginning of 2025, they have found some remains of the cancer, and it is inaccessible by surgery or radiation. So, we will see what the next step is, but probably some form of chemotherapy, to keep the cancer in check.

"Luckily, we recorded vocals for the demos for the new album before all of this happened. The last version of the vocals, the ones that will end up on the album, were recorded in ONE day, mostly one takes, the DAY before the surgery, just to make sure we HAD the album, so to speak. So the vocals were actually recorded BEFORE the rest of the album.... a bit different, but it felt good to have it done.

"We have now decided to not wait any longer to release this new album. We had first planned to wait with the release until we knew if/when I would be able to sing again, and we were able to support the release with shows. Now when everything about the future is a bit more unsure it feels good to deliver this album. It is an album that we all are very proud of, and it's the first time in 10 years that Jonas and I have worked together with Anders writing an album's worth of music. It is a bit more of a return to the 'roots', probably best described as a mix between the two last albums we did with Anders ('Slaughter Of The Soul' and 'At War With Reality'). Hope you all will enjoy it!

"Please respect that we don't want to make a big thing about all this, and that I won't be answering interviews concerning the cancer, the treatment or the recovery. We just wanted this to be out in the open, as we wanted to explain to our fans why we have been quiet for such a long time.

"I hope you all are well. Take care of yourself, your loved ones and the time you have on this earth."

According to Medical News Today, most people who develop ACC live for at least five years. However, most will also develop a recurrence of the cancer.

One study of 160 individuals with ACC found that the five-year survival rate was 89%, while the 15-year survival rate was 40%.

Back in October 2022, AT THE GATES announced that founding member and guitarist Anders Björler was returning to the band's lineup after a handful of years of absence.

In August 2022, AT THE GATES parted ways with its guitarist of the previous five years, Jonas Stålhammar.

Stålhammar joined the band in September 2017 as the replacement for Anders Björler, who left AT THE GATES in March of that year.

AT THE GATES' latest studio album, "The Nightmare Of Being", came out in 2021.

2018's "To Drink From The Night Itself" was the first AT THE GATES album written and recorded without Anders Björler.

We want to take a moment to update you on what's been happening with At the Gates, and to do so, we need to take you...

Posted by At The Gates on Friday, August 15, 2025

After more than three decades, Swiss pioneering technical metallers CORONER return with a new studio album: "Dissonance Theory" will be released on October 17, 2025 worldwide via Century Media Records.

To kick off the campaign for CORONER's upcoming release, a first new single titled "Renewal" is being made available today. Check it out in a video clip directed by Dariusz Szermanowicz below.

CORONER's guitarist, songwriter and producer Tommy Vetterli (a.k.a. Tommy T. Baron) checked in with the following comment about the band's new music: "I thought a lot about what CORONER should sound like today, but I pretty quickly realized that looking backwards wouldn't serve us. Of course, over time you develop a certain signature as a musician. So even if the material is new, it might still feel like a bridge to earlier phases — simply because it's me writing it. That said, we didn't set out to continue a legacy. We just wanted to create something honest and grounded in the present. 'Renewal' now opens the chapter for what became the first CORONER album I'm fully satisfied with, start to finish. So we'll let the music speak for itself — you'll know if it speaks to you."

"Dissonance Theory" contains 10 new songs across 47 minutes, recorded by Tommy Vetterli at New Sound Studios in Switzerland and mixed/mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios (OPETH, KREATOR, AMON AMARTH) in Sweden. The album's cover artwork (see below) was created by Stefan Thanneur.

"Dissonance Theory" will be available as limited 2CD mediabook (with expanded booklet and the legendary "Death Cult" four-track demo from 1986, featuring Tom G. Warrior [TRIPTYKON, CELTIC FROST, HELLHAMMER] on vocals, as a bonus CD),standard CD jewelcase, digital album and LP.

"Dissonance Theory" track listing:

01. Oxymoron
02. Consequence
03. Sacrificial Lamb
04. Crisium Bound
05. Symmetry
06. The Law
07. Transparent Eye
08. Trinity
09. Renewal
10. Prolonging

In an August 2024 interview with Serbia's Agoraphobic News, Veterrli stated about CORONER's long-awaited follow-up to 1993's "Grin" album: "It's more mature, I would say. In the past, we wrote the music more to show off that we practiced a lot, and nowadays we write more from the heart and from the balls."

Asked what the new CORONER LP will sound like, Tommy responded: "It's gonna sound like typical CORONER, but, yeah, a little more mature. There's a lot of technical parts in it as well, but it's a little bit more song-oriented, and it also sounds very weird, like it always did."

Regarding whether the new CORONER music will be similar to "Grin", Tommy said: "I would say maybe 'Grin' is the closest to the new one, but there is also a lot of stuff more from like the third [1989's 'No More Color'] or fourth [1991's 'Mental Vortex'] album. But it's not possible, 30 years later, you make the same [album], and it also would be totally stupid and boring."

Veterrli previously discussed CORONER's new music in a December 2022 interview with BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Asked if the band's next LP will follow in the path of "Grin", a noticeably less thrash-oriented album than its predecessors, he responded: "It's hard to say. It's more 'Grin' than 'Reborn Through Hate'. For me, these are songs. It's a showcase of what we learned and practiced. Everybody who has heard the pre-production, including the record company, is really happy and thinks that's the way the band should sound. It's more about feel and is song-oriented. The technical stuff is still there, but not the main thing. It's going to be weird, like all CORONER songs. My goal is always to do something I didn't hear one-hundred times before. Most bands are a copy of another band. There are a lot of great bands, but I miss the freshness or originality."

In the 1990s, CORONER caused a stir in the music industry with its progressive and technically sophisticated music style. All over the world, CORONER was considered one of the most unconventional avant-garde metal bands. Today, CORONER is a cult band and is highly respected not only by musicians such as Max Cavalera (SEPULTURA),Franz Treichler (THE YOUNG GODS) and Mille Petrozza (KREATOR),but also by metal fans all over the world.

After the release of "Grin" in 1993, the band split up. Two years later, a best-of album, "Coroner", was released. Sixteen years passed. Then, in 2011, Vetterli, Broder and then-drummer and founding member Marky Edelmann returned to the stage, playing a potpourri of numbers from their albums at concerts.

CORONER in 2014 announced the addition of drummer Diego Rapacchietti to the group's ranks. He made his live debut with CORONER on May 29, 2014, at Salzhaus in Winterthur, Switzerland.

CORONER 2025 is:

Ron "Royce" Broder - vocals, bass
Tommy Vetterli - guitars
Diego Rapacchietti - drums

Photo credit: Manuel Schütz

Robert Plant and SAVING GRACE's reimagined version of Blind Willie Johnson's "Gospel Plough" can be streamed below. The song is taken from the LED ZEPPELIN legend's "Saving Grace", the first album featuring a new band of distinguished players, which he calls "a song book of the lost and found." Arriving September 26 on Nonesuch Records, the genesis of "Saving Grace" began during the lockdown in "The Shire", when Plant's customary wandering was all but forbidden. While his recent adventures have centered around Nashville, having reunited with Alison Krauss for 2021's chart-topping, multi Grammy-nominated "Raise The Roof", it was in the English countryside that Robert Plant connected closely to this diverse group of musicians, who through their own experiences had a shared lean towards his much-loved corners of evocative song. Together, Plant and SAVING GRACE — vocalist Suzi Dian, drummer Oli Jefferson, guitarist Tony Kelsey, banjo and string player Matt Worley, cellist Barney Morse-Brown — have spent the past six years growing into a wide-ranging workshop of styles and personalities, weaving through time and circumstance with joy and abandon.

"We laugh a lot, really. I think that suits me. I like laughing," Plant says. "You know, I can't find any reason to be too serious about anything. I'm not jaded. The sweetness of the whole thing…These are sweet people and they are playing out all the stuff that they could never get out before. They have become unique stylists and together they seem to have landed in a most interesting place."

Following his previous acclaimed releases on Nonesuch Records — 2014's "Lullaby And… The Ceaseless Roar" and 2017's "Carry Fire" — "Saving Grace" brings yet another chapter of Robert Plant's ceaseless roar into the daylight. Produced by Robert Plant and SAVING GRACE — and recorded between April 2019 and January 2025 in the Cotswolds and on the Welsh Borders — "Saving Grace" breathes fresh life into a collection of century-old music. A treasury of songs featured back in time by Memphis Minnie, Bob Mosley (MOBY GRAPE),Blind Willie Johnson, The Low Anthem, Martha Scanlan, Sarah Siskind, and Mimi Parker and Alan Sparhawk's LOW.

Plant told Rolling Stone magazine about the creation of "Saving Grace": "Well, we began with one microphone on a mic stand in a field adjacent to Matt Worley's place. We had a little desk set up. And we would get nowhere nearer than about four yards away from each other, and one by one go up to the microphone, and spray the microphone. On the last track on the record, you can hear some birds singing because we’d individually play a part and come away from the mic. It was an experiment that took me back to 'Physical Graffiti' with LED ZEPPELIN when I did quite a few vocals outside. I really enjoyed the whole idea of being out there rather than in the constraints of a studio. It began with 'Higher Rock', I believe, and maybe even 'Chevrolet'. That was probably about 2019 or '20. And then I'd go off somewhere else, and then we'd come back to it.

"A friend of Steve Winwood's got an old farm down in Gloucestershire, and he used to be quite involved with the very early days of TRAFFIC. And so as the conditions changed [after the pandemic] and the world started to open up, occasionally we'd go down to his barn and see what we would do there. It's really great, very pastoral.

"I think maybe we made one sojourn to Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios to try and see how we would get on with a different drum sound or whatever it was. But it's been pretty organic all the way through. I know that's a very overused word, but that's how it is. Nothing was riding on it, nobody was thinking beyond maybe putting this record out. Some shows in the U.S. later in the year might be about the zenith of anything that anybody ever imagined, really. There's never any sort of aspiration.

"Whereas when I came back after the demise of LED ZEPPELIN, I was in a different place, a different headspace, a different time in my life. I was really quite determined to take my music with a lot more drive, whereas this seems to be, it seems pretty pastoral, really.

"In SAVING GRACE, I don't think any of us live more on about eight miles apart. It's a very familiar combination of people in every respect, because I guess we've come out of the same area completely. There's a coherence even in our humor. We've got a good thing going on without where there's no huge imperatives. It's just really nice."

Robert Plant and SAVING GRACE's previously released reimagined rendition of LOW's "Everybody's Song" can also be streamed below.

After touring extensively across Europe in recent months and years, Robert Plant and SAVING GRACE will perform for the first time in the U.S. this fall, with an initial run of a dozen North American shows announced today. Dates include Brooklyn, New York's Paramount, Port Chester's Capitol Theatre, Chicago's The Vic, Los Angeles's United Theater and more.

"Saving Grace" track listing:

01. Chevrolet
02. As I Roved Out
03. It's A Beautiful Day Today
04. Soul Of A Man
05. Ticket Taker
06. I Never Will Marry
07. Higher Rock
08. Too Far From You
09. Everybody's Song
10. Gospel Plough

Robert Plant and SAVING GRACE 2025 North American tour dates:

Oct. 30 - Wheeling, WV - Capitol Theatre Wheeling
Nov. 02 - Charlottesville, VA - The Paramount Theater of Charlottesville
Nov. 03 - Washington, DC - Lincoln Theatre
Nov. 05 - Brooklyn, NY - Brooklyn Paramount
Nov. 06 - Boston, MA - Boch Center Shubert Theatre
Nov. 08 - Port Chester, NY - Capitol Theatre
Nov. 10 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
Nov. 12 - Chicago, IL - The Vic
Nov. 13 - Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music
Nov. 15 - Denver, CO - Ellie Caulkins Opera House
Nov. 18 - Seattle, WA - The Moore Theatre
Nov. 19 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre
Nov. 21 - Oakland, CA - The Fox
Nov. 22 - Los Angeles, CA - United Theater on Broadway

Photo by Tom Oldham

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist and founder Zoltan Bathory has put his castle-inspired mansion in Las Vegas on the market for $28 million.

Bathory bought the three-story, 12,720-square-foot home, which is located about 8 miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, in 2019 for $3.25 million and has been remodeling it for the past six years.

Listing agent Monica Nalbantoglu of the Rob Jensen Co. told the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "There is nothing in the home that wasn't touched other than the exterior walls and the things that are in the home."

Bathory brought renowned architect and Blue Heron founder Michael Murphy out of retirement. Over nearly six years, the two meticulously restored and transformed the castle, originally built in 1990 by Utah billionaires the Miller family, as a flawless replica of an old-world fortress.

The property already featured $1.7 million in stained glass cathedral windows and $1.4 million in hand-carved mahogany. Bathory and Murphy spared no expense in elevating it further, importing 15th-century stone gates from Europe, 17th-century fireplace mantels, and 500-year-old beams and doors — turning the estate into a work of architectural bravado.

Zoltan told BLABBERMOUTH.NET about his decision to sell the home: "I'm an artist… and through this process I discovered that as amazing as it is to own something like this, the real thrill for me is in creating it. Designing and building something monumental, something that will outlast me is where the magic is. Michael Murphy and I had an incredible time bringing this place to life, and now we're already eyeing castles and fortresses in Europe to transform into livable works of art."

Nalbantoglu said that Bathory is looking to sell the property because he "just wants to keep going. He wants to keep finding these really cool properties and make them really special," she said.

According to Mansion Global, Bathory also bought the neighboring home during the renovation to live in, which is negotiable with the sale of the castle.

This past April, Zoltan's Las Vegas mansion was featured in Rock Feed's original series "Headbanger Homes". You can now watch the episode below.

In a 2020 interview with Kerrang! magazine, Zoltan stated about his accomplishments: "If my 10-year-old self could see me now, he would find it surreal. It is surreal. Lots of people say they'll follow their crazy dreams, but not everyone believes they can come true. Over the years, as I've gotten to achieve all these ‘impossible' goals, I've created this cycle of fulfilment: dream it, wish it, work for it, achieve it. I've trained myself to dare to dream. When I say that nothing is impossible, I truly believe it."

Bathory, who was born in Hungary but moved to the United States when he was 20 years old, stated about his upbringing: "Hungary was very much a socialist, communist country. We had one TV channel that started at noon and ended at midnight. It didn't broadcast on Mondays at all, and it showed no rock or metal music. As kids we'd beat the crap out of each other because there was nothing else to do. The one thing Hungary did give me was a heavy-duty education. I knew that if I wanted to get out, I needed to be faster, stronger and better educated than everyone else. I read hundreds of books. If I hadn't, I would have been just another cog in the machine."

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is a multi-platinum, chart-topping hard rock band known for its high-energy performances and impactful music (over 12 billion all-time streams). The band has held firmly to a Top 3 position on the Billboard Hard Rock charts for the last five years. During that time, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH also amassed a record-setting 11 Billboard mainstream Rock Airplay #1s in a row, the longest run of leading consecutive entries in the history of Mainstream Rock Airplay. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has achieved 28 Top 10 hit singles, 16 No. 1 singles and released nine consecutive studio albums since 2007, seven of which were certified gold or platinum by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America),as well as two chart-topping greatest-hits albums. Having become one of the most recognizable names in music, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH frequently plays all major festivals, sells out arenas around the world and recently concluded a two-year stadium tour across Europe and North America with METALLICA. With a loyal global fan base, the band has consistently demonstrated their commitment to making a difference in the world by raising significant funds for various organizations.

Zoltan Bathory photo credit: Steve Appleford

In a new interview with Metal Hammer, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson spoke about his plans for more new solo music following the release of his latest solo album, "The Mandrake Project", which arrived in March 2024. Bruce said: "We've got, like, 18 tracks demoed, which I did in April. We're going to do a new album — not for next year, obviously. We're busy next year with other things, obviously MAIDEN things and everything, which is great, but '27 that's when it will come out.”

Bruce went on to say that his new solo material will include "bone-crushingly heavy" songs as well as moments that "are just like tugging at the heartstrings". "If it's heavy, it's heavy," he added, "but if it just happens to be acoustic, it's acoustic. That's the deal, you know? It's whatever the song dictates, whatever the story is you're trying to tell, but it's really exciting. I'm so stoked about these tracks. I played the demos to a few people in the record label and stuff, and everybody is like, 'Wow!'"

Dickinson previously told Charlie Kendall of Charlie Kendall's Metalshop that he will enter the studio with his solo band "in January" 2026 to record his next solo album with Brendan Duffey, who "did an amazing job" remixing Dickinson's second solo album, 1994's "Balls To Picasso". "So we go in the studio with him in January, and we are looking to release the album in '27," he said. "The amazing band that is gonna record the new record with me is gonna be the same band that toured in Europe with me, and it's gonna be the same band that's gonna tour with me in 2027 when we release the new record. Or at least that's the idea anyway, to release a new record [in 2027]."

Dickinson also talked about his upcoming "The Mandrake Project Live 2025" North American tour, which is scheduled to kick off on August 22 in Anaheim, California. He said: "This summer I'm touring the USA for the first time with 'Mandrake', and also we're playing stuff from [1998's] 'The Chemical Wedding', [1997's] 'Accident Of Birth'… I mean, I've got seven studio albums to pick from. Obviously, I'm gonna be playing some stuff from 'Balls To Picasso', so 'Tears [Of The Dragon]' is gonna be in there and some other stuff, 'Gods Of War' probably, for sure. And a real cool mix of tracks. I mean, stuff like 'The Alchemist', people in Europe, they're, like, 'Oh my God. He's playing 'The Alchemist' from 'The Chemical Wedding'.' I went, 'Yep, we're doing that. And 'Chemical Wedding'.' And other things too that people will go, 'Oh, that's really cool.' I hope they do anyway."

According to Bruce, his setlist for the upcoming solo tour will include one IRON MAIDEN song, "Revelations", which was written solely by him and originally appeared on the band's 1983 album "Piece Of Mind". He explained: "Because I'm going down to South America on this run just for one show — 'cause the reason is it's the 40th anniversary since I set foot in Rock In Rio, and there's a big festival in São Paulo called The Town. So it's a huge festival. I'm down there. I'm gonna be doing the show [on September 7]. So I'm gonna play one of what I might call my MAIDEN songs, 'cause obviously I wrote some of them completely on my own. Da da. People say, 'Hey, who wrote the guitar part to 'Revelations'?' I went, 'You know the bit where it says who wrote the song? Did you see anybody else's name there?' They go, 'Oh, man, I didn't know you played guitar.' So anyway, I used to play guitar with MAIDEN for 10 seconds on stage, but I think the bastards never plugged it in."

Reflecting on MAIDEN's 1985 performance at the Rock In Rio festival, Bruce said: "So, I'm in Rio, and the sound was awful. I got so pissed off. I took the guitar off. I was so grumpy. I hit myself in the head, blood cold coming down from a head wound, from the guitar, from the edge of the guitar. That was all on the big screen. So the audience were, like, 'Oh my God. He's bleeding for his heart.' The manager asked me to squeeze it some more 'cause it looked great on the cameras. And that photograph became kind of legendary in Brazil. So I'm gonna do that song ['Revelations'] down in Brazil. And I thought, 'Hell, if I'm gonna rehearse 'Revelations' for Brazil, oh, damn it, I might as well do it in the USA as well.' So I think that'd be kind of cool. We're not playing it on this next tour, this next MAIDEN tour. And I think because it's my song, if I wanna tweak a few things and make a few little alterations that I think might maybe make it a little bit better, then, yeah, it's my song. I'll do what I damn well like."

Joining the IRON MAIDEN singer on the "The Mandrake Project Live 2025" North American tour will once again be his 2024 backing band, featuring Dave Moreno (drums),Mistheria (keyboards) and Tanya O'Callaghan (bass),alongside the group's latest additions, Swedish guitarist, songwriter and multi-platinum-credited producer Philip Näslund and Swiss session and touring guitarist Chris Declercq (who played on Dickinson's "Rain On The Graves" single). Bruce's longtime guitarist and collaborator Roy "Z" Ramirez is not part of the touring lineup.

"The Mandrake Project Live 2025" North American tour kicks off in Anaheim, California at the House of Blues on August 22 and takes the band across North America including shows in New York, Los Angeles, Texas, Florida and Canada, with festival appearances at Rocklahoma (Oklahoma) and Louder Than Life (Kentucky). The tour also includes a quick return to Brazil for the aforementioned prestigious The Town festival at the City Of Light in São Paulo.

Prior to the April 12, 2024 Whisky A Go Go show, Bruce last performed with his solo band on in August 2002 at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.

Roy played guitar on Dickinson's 1994 album "Balls To Picasso" and went on to produce, co-write and perform multiple instruments on Bruce's subsequent three solo albums, "Accident At Birth" (1997),"The Chemical Wedding" (1998) and "Tyranny Of Souls" (2005).

O'Callaghan is an Irish musician who joined WHITESNAKE in 2021 and toured with the David Coverdale-fronted outfit the following year. She also hit the road with Dickinson last year as part of a performance of Jon Lord's "Concerto For Group And Orchestra" on nearly a dozen dates in Europe and South America.

Californian drummer Moreno previously played on "Tyranny Of Souls" and has worked with BODY COUNT, Jizzy Pearl, Dizzy Reed and Steve Stevens, among others.

Italian keyboard wizard Mistheria has collaborated with an array of artists live and in the studio, including Rob Rock, Mike Portnoy, Jeff Scott Soto and Joel Hoekstra.

"The Mandrake Project" arrived on March 1, 2024 via BMG.

Bruce and Roy recorded "The Mandrake Project" largely at Los Angeles's Doom Room, with Roy doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording lineup for "The Mandrake Project" was rounded out by Mistheria and Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce's previous solo studio album, "Tyranny Of Souls", in 2005.

Dickinson's reworked version of his classic 1994 album "Balls To Picasso", now titled "More Balls To Picasso", arrived on July 25.

Dickinson made his recording debut with IRON MAIDEN on the "Number Of The Beast" album in 1982. He quit the band in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career and was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who had previously been the lead singer of the metal band WOLFSBANE. After releasing two traditional metal albums with former MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith, Dickinson rejoined the band in 1999 along with Smith.

Photo credit: John McMurtrie

During an August 12 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", legendary bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes was asked if he has "an idea" in his mind on retirement and how he would like to end his career. The former DEEP PURPLE and current BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION member, who will turn 74 later this month, responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " Good question. The word 'retirement' is something I don't normally say.

"A good story for you there. In June, I went on a tour of Europe with BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION. And Joe [Bonamassa, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION guitarist] and I were talking after two shows in that we were thinking before we started that tour that maybe this would be the end of BCC, maybe we've done and dusted what we started out to do. And funny enough, we felt on that tour of Europe that we were actually just getting started. We made a live album, by the way; it'll be coming out early next year.

"I think sometime early this year, I thought, 'Maybe I should slow it down. Maybe I should take it easy,' blah, blah, blah," Hughes admitted. "But ever since I came home from the BCC tour, I'm reinvigorated. I've got new purpose. I've never felt so strong, and I'm really looking forward to doing more shows, both solo and with BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION."

Five years ago, Hughes told the "Thunder Underground" podcast that he plans to continue writing music up until his "final day." He said: "People ask me that question — not all the time, but they do ask that question.

"A good friend of mine, who you know of — I won't say who he is — but we've had a conversation about retirement. And I know a lot of people older than me that are still going — [Mick] Jagger and Robert Plant; friends of mine. They're still going 'cause they love music.

"If you are a musician who's a songwriter, you just continue to write," he added. "And that's what I do — I've been doing it for [more than] 50 years. But more so since I've been sober, for the last [30-plus] years, I've been writing more proper songs, about recovery. In fact, I don't know if you know, but most of my work deals with the human condition and about, pretty much, the love factor and recovery and being free, and that's where I'm at."

Glenn's new studio album "Chosen", is set for release on September 5 via Frontiers Music Srl.

In early June, Hughes released the official music video for the "Chosen" title track. It was followed by the "Voice In My Head" video a month later. Earlier this month, Glenn shared "Into The Fade".

This year will also see Hughes busy touring across Europe and South America, with "The Chosen Years" tour starting in Zoetermeer, Netherlands, on September 2 and ending on November 29 in Bogota, Colombia.

Glenn, a native of Cannock, England, absorbed all kinds of influences, including early British hard rock, THE BEATLES and, most importantly, American soul and R&B. The sleek Motown sound from Detroit and the gritty Stax/Volt sound from Memphis left their mark on him.

Hughes first found success in the early '70s with the band TRAPEZE before joining DEEP PURPLE in 1973 during a pivotal lineup change that introduced him and David Coverdale to the group. Despite initial skepticism, the revamped band silenced critics with the release of "Burn" (1974),a powerful album that revitalized PURPLE's sound and remains a classic. During this era, the band headlined the iconic California Jam in front of over 300,000 fans, toured the world aboard their private jet The Starship, and released two more studio albums, "Stormbringer" and "Come Taste The Band", before disbanding in 1976.

Glenn's first solo album "Play Me Out" was released in 1977. He joined former Pat Travers guitarist Pat Thrall to form HUGHES/THRALL, which released an acclaimed self-titled album in 1982. Throughout the '80s and '90s, Glenn Hughes made countless guest appearances (both credited and un-credited) as a vocalist, bass guitarist or songwriter on other artists' albums. The endless list includes — among others — Gary Moore, John Norum and Tony Iommi of BLACK SABBATH.

Since 1992, Glenn has started a prolific solo career with a dozen studio albums where he explored all the different sides of his songwriting and influences: from hard rock to funk and more contemporary sounds. He collaborated — among others — with such musicians as Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),Dave Navarro, John Frusciante and many others. He also founded or took part in some amazing musical alliances such as CALIFORNIA BREED (with Jason Bonham and Andrew Watt),BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION (with Joe Bonamassa and Jason Bonham) and THE DEAD DAISIES.

Glenn has collaborated with Robbie Williams on his new single "Rocket", which was released on May 22, 2025. The track also features a collaboration from Iommi and will be the first time Glenn has been featured on a record with Tony since 2005, when they released "Fused" together.

Glenn also recently joined forces with SATCHVAI, a new collaboration by legendary guitar icons Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, by writing and singing on their new single "I Wanna Play My Guitar".

In a new interview with Underground's Voice, Mikael Jan Svanberg, better known as Lord Ahriman, the Swedish musician and composer best known as the primary guitarist, songwriter and sole founding member of black metal band DARK FUNERAL, has confirmed that he is working on material for the follow-up to the group's latest album, "We Are The Apocalypse", which was released in March 2022. "I've been writing on and off for quite a period of time," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "But exactly where it's gonna end up… I mean, it's super melodic, very catchy stuff. At this point, it's hard to say exactly where it's gonna end up. But I feel like I have some really interesting stuff — more groovy and catchy stuff than before. I've also been doing a little bit more riffing that I felt suits some parts and [is] a little bit different. But it feels right in these songs that I'm writing to have those riffs. So, [I'm adding] some new stuff into the mix. But now it's still too early to to say where it's going."

This past March, Lord Ahriman underwent his third hernia surgery.

1993 was the year it all began, Lord Ahriman and Blackmoon (1993-1996) founded the infernal war machine we now know as DARK FUNERAL, one of the most intense and prominent black metal acts ever. In January 1994, the legendary self-titled and independently financed debut mini album were recorded at Dan Swanö's Unisound Studio. It was released upon the unexpecting masses on May 4 the same year. The band quickly established themselves as a band to watch. Since then, a lot of things have happened. The band has released seven albums, the lineup has changed, and DARK FUNERAL has toured no less than 45 different countries with acts as DIMMU BORGIR, CANNIBAL CORPSE, DEICIDE, GOATWHORE, ENSLAVED and many more. The band's album "Diabolis Interim" was also nominated as best metal album at P3 Guld awards and "Where Shadows Forever Reign" was awarded twice, by Swedish P3 Guld and Germany's Metal Hammer Award.

A reworked version of DARK FUNERAL's debut album was made available in August 2024 via Century Media. "Dark Funeral (30th Anniversary Edition)" was remixed by David Castillo and remastered once again by Thomas "Plec" Johansson.

In a new interview with Pablo of the Minneapolis, Minnesota radio station 93X, EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee spoke about her band's upcoming tour of Australia and New Zealand as the support act for METALLICA. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET) " I'm not scared at all. But it is our first stadium tour. We've done shows that big, the venues we're playing, but it's usually in the context of a festival. It's a lot of bands, so we're not responsible for carrying more than like our portion of the weight and [these will be] METALLICA shows, so fans are gonna be stoked. But at the same time, I know how those fans can be. I've been in this game for a while. I know what it is. I know what I've gotta bring. I know what not to play. [Laughs] So, we're just gonna bring it and have a blast."

She continued: "We're really excited. That's a big bucket list thing as well. I'm actually really excited because Emma [Anzai, EVANESCENCE bassist], she's from Australia — I mean, New Zealand, Australia, both — and we get to go to both. So I'm just excited for her also in a special way that's, like, 'Man, that's so badass.' You get to come back and be, like, whatever, 'I'm opening for METALLICA to tonight.'"

The Australia and New Zealand leg of METALLICA's "M72" world tour, with support from EVANESCENCE and SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, will kick off on November 1, 2025 in Perth at Optus Stadium, then head to Adelaide on November 5 at Adelaide Oval. Next, the tour moves to Melbourne's Marvel Stadium on November 8, followed by Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on November 12. On November 15, the band will perform at Accor Stadium in Sydney, wrapping up the tour in Auckland on November 19 at Eden Park.

Last month, EVANESCENCE and alt-rock visionary K.Flay released the video for their new song "Fight Like A Girl". The track plays over the end credits of "Ballerina", the latest film set in the world of "John Wick", now playing in theatres and available on PVOD. The clip was helmed by Chad Stahelski, director of the "John Wick" films and producer of "Ballerina".

EVANESCENCE will kick off a run of live shows later this year, including "My Chemical Romance: The Black Parade" tour and Louder Than Life festival before joining METALLICA on their "M72" world tour.

Co-written by Lee, K.Flay, Dylan Eiland and "Ballerina" film composer Tyler Bates, who also produced the track, "Fight Like A Girl" followed the release of Halsey and Lee's thunderous track "Hand That Feeds", the first original song recently revealed from the film in early May.

In 2003, when the rock charts were dominated by predominantly male nü-metal and post-grunge acts, a young female-fronted band from Arkansas stood out from the crowd, offering something entirely new. They were EVANESCENCE — and with their debut album, "Fallen", they transformed the rock landscape. Led by Lee, EVANESCENCE's cinematic blend of metal and symphonic, piano-driven melodies captured a generation, while "Fallen" set the band on a path to global superstardom, earning them multiple Grammys, and becoming one of the highest-selling albums of all time.

Released in the spring of 2003, "Fallen" resonated deeply with fans, selling more than 141,000 copies in its first week and peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, where it spent an astonishing 43 weeks in the Top 10. Within a month, "Fallen" was certified platinum by the RIAA, while it was a Top 10 hit in more than ten countries, reaching No. 1 in the U.K., Canada, Australia, and across Europe. Much of the album's initial success can be attributed to its stratospheric singles, including "Bring Me to Life", which broke the Top 10 in more than 15 countries and topped Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 and Alternative Airplay charts. "My Immortal" was a Top 10 hit in over ten countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Australia.

At the 2004 Grammys, EVANESCENCE received five nominations, including "Album Of The Year", "Best Rock Album", "Best Hard Rock Performance" for "Bring Me To Life", and "Best New Artist", taking home the latter two. The following year, "My Immortal" received a nod for "Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals".

Today, "Fallen" holds steady as the sixth best-selling album of the 21st century (ranking just behind Lady Gaga's "The Fame" and ahead of COLDPLAY's "A Rush Of Blood To The Head") and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, with more than 17 million copies sold worldwide. In 2022, "Fallen" received a rare diamond certification from the RIAA, which recognizes 10 million units in U.S. album sales. As a testament to the album's enduring appeal, the video for "Bring Me To Life" surpassed 1.2 billion views on YouTube, making it one of the most-watched rock videos of all-time while "My Immortal" follows close behind.

To date, EVANESCENCE has released a total of five studio albums, including the multi-platinum "The Open Door" (2004) and "Evanescence" (2011),both of which topped the Billboard 200. In 2021, the band thrilled fans with their first album of new material in a decade, "The Bitter Truth". Now 20 years on, EVANESCENCE continues to scale new heights. Featuring a lineup of Amy Lee (vocals, keyboards),Tim McCord (guitar/bass),Will Hunt (drums),Troy McLawhorn (guitars) and Emma Anzai (bass, backing vocals),the band continues to travel the globe, staging some of the most successful shows of their career, including Allianz Parque, a soccer stadium in Sāo Paulo, Brasil, which was the biggest headline show of EVANESCENCE's career to date, drawing 40,000 fans. EVANESCENCE's most recent single, "Afterlife" from the Netflix series "Devil May Cry", has had great success, with over 20 million streams and over 10 million views on YouTube in just the first few weeks. "Afterlife" is the fastest-moving single of the band's career.

During a new appearance on "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello reflected on his role as the "curator" for BLACK SABBATH's all-star "Back To The Beginning" farewell show, which also marked Ozzy Osbourne's final performance. Asked what the "biggest challenge" was in putting the event together, Morello said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I suppose the biggest challenge was just doing it justice. Heavy metal is the music that made me love music and BLACK SABBATH invented heavy metal. So when I was tapped by Ozzy and [his wife and manager] Sharon to be the musical director, I took it really, really seriously and used all of my love of the genre and curatorial abilities to try to make something that was… The goal was very, very simple from the beginning, is to make it the greatest and most important day in the history of heavy metal, and all reports are that we did pretty well."

Asked if he got his own moment with Ozzy and the rest of SABBATH to say what he wanted to say to the undisputed architects of heavy metal, Tom said: "Yeah. The good, nice news is throughout this process I've been able to be in communication with Ozzy and with [SABBATH guitarist] Tony Iommi and those guys, and it's really pretty mind-blowing. I've never stopped being a fan from day one, and realizing how important Tony Iommi's riffs are, how important Ozzy Osbourne is, and Ozzy bringing [late guitarist] Randy Rhoads to the world, that was the poster that was on my wall when I was practicing eight hours a day. So, I got to be able to tell them and be able to really do my best and, over the course of the last year plus, give everything I had to try to make this show an important day for them in their hometown, but also an important day for all of the bands, all of the fans who have been touched by their music over the course of more than 50 years."

Asked if he had a favorite moment — as a fan — from the "Back To The Beginning" concert aside from SABBATH's final performance, Morello said: "Oh, wow. There were a lot. The Steven Tyler [AEROSMITH] moment of doing 'The Train Kept-A-Rollin'' with Ronnie Wood [THE ROLLING STONES] into 'Walk This Way' into 'Whole Lotta Love' was pretty excellent. Yungblud's version of 'Changes' was a real showstopper.

"One of the ideas I had early on was that each of the bands would play at least one SABBATH or Ozzy song, and it was basically like watching 14 of the greatest SABBATH and Ozzy tribute bands of all time play with some of my favorite singers and guitar players in them," Morello continued. "While the day itself, honestly, was a little stressful for me, 'cause I was still working throughout the 10-hour day, it was really, really pretty fantastic. I'll tell you, for me personally, 'cause I got to play as well, playing a JUDAS PRIEST song with [former PRIEST guitarist] K.K. Downing, playing 'Breaking The Law' with K.K. Downing, as well as with Adam Jones from TOOL, my longtime friend from Libertyville, Illinois, and [SMASHING PUMPKINS'] Billy Corgan, also a Chicago-area native, the three of us grew up on JUDAS PRIEST and BLACK SABBATH, and to be reunited in a stadium a long way from our hometown playing SABBATH and JUDAS PRIEST songs, where those songs were made, was pretty mind blowing."

Billboard reported last month that the concert was watched by 40,000 ticketholders and 5.8 million individuals online, with each of the above-mentioned charities also raising tens of thousands of pounds in additional donations by raffling off tickets to the show, auctioning off iconic art and band photographs donated by BLACK SABBATH, and through individual contributions from fans as they streamed into the concert, which took place at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.

At "Back To The Beginning", Ozzy played a five-song set with his solo band — consisting of guitarist Zakk Wylde, bassist Mike Inez, keyboardist Adam Wakeman and drummer Tommy Clufetos — before being joined by fellow original BLACK SABBATH members Tony Iommi (guitar),Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) for four classic SABBATH songs: "War Pigs", "Iron Man", "N.I.B." and "Paranoid".

Ozzy's solo set consisted of four songs from Osbourne's 1980 solo debut album "Blizzard Of Ozz" — "I Don't Know", "Mr. Crowley", "Suicide Solution" and "Crazy Train" — along with his 1991 "No More Tears" ballad "Mama, I'm Coming Home".

The 76-year-old heavy metal singer sang while seated on a black throne and appeared overcome with emotion at times. "You have no idea how I feel. Thank you from the bottom of my heart," he told the crowd.

At the end of SABBATH's set, Ozzy said: "It's the last song ever. Your support has enabled us to live an amazing lifestyle, thank you from the bottom of our hearts." Osbourne was then presented with a cake, while fireworks lit up the stadium from overhead.

A message on screen then read, "Thank you for everything, you guys are fucking amazing. Birmingham Forever," before the sky lit up with fireworks.

Ozzy died on July 22 of a heart attack, his death certificate revealed. The certificate also reportedly said the musician suffered from coronary artery disease and Parkinson's disease.

LIVING COLOUR guitarist Vernon Reid recently announced details of his new solo album "Hoodoo Telemetry", which will be released on October 3, 2025 via Artone / The Players Club Records. The LP's second single, "Beautiful Bastard", can now be streamed below.

If you've followed the beats of his half-century career, you'll know Reid as an artist who paints in every color. Depending on the era you dive into and the album on your turntable, you'll find the New York polymath pinballing between jazz, metal, punk, funk, electronica and hip-hop, cutting heads with collaborators as eclectic as Mick Jagger and PUBLIC ENEMY, endlessly shedding his skin yet always speaking his truth.

Globally celebrated as a giant of electric guitar (he was recently hailed by Rolling Stone amongst the top 50 players of all-time),Reid's Grammy Award-winning records with alt-rock trailblazers LIVING COLOUR still sound as fresh and fierce as when "Cult Of Personality" hijacked the Billboard chart in the late '80s. But to take the pulse of the zeitgeist as he sees it — and hear his fearless musicality in microcosm — you need only drop the needle on his new solo album.

"Hoodoo Telemetry", considers the 66-year-old of this kaleidoscopic 14-track opus, "is like a piece of my all-over-the-place mind. It took me a while to start this record because I was thinking about what I wanted to do next, managing my time with all my other projects. I was also in different spaces with these songs: some are new, others are reclamations of material from a long time ago. But suddenly, I found the focus and it was very clear to me: I gotta do this now."

The overdriven funk bassline and glistening soul of first single, "The Haunting" finds Reid tipping his hat to a fellow chameleon ("I'm a huge Prince fan and there's some of who he was in that song's DNA"),before the scratch 'n' glitch of the brass-driven "Bronx Paradox" salutes the New York neighbourhood's greatest musical export. "I wrote that in tribute to DJ Logic," he explains. "Everybody considered the Bronx a wasteland, a warzone. But with hip-hop, those kids created the final original music of the 20th century."

"Hoodoo Telemetry" isn't a linear piece, but a thrillingly tangled tapestry of genres, collaborators and material from different time periods. Its energy and chaos seems to reflect and challenge what Reid considers the "tumultuous."

LIVING COLOUR, Reid's best-known band burst into bloom on a New York live circuit that was more fluid than ever before or since. "We had an ecology of clubs to play at, from CBGBs to the Cat Club and the Ritz," he recalls of the first steps of a solidified lineup featuring Corey Glover (vocals),Muzz Skillings (bass) and Will Calhoun (drums).

Carried by word of mouth, the tinderbox was already set to explode when the patronage of Mick Jagger sent the band over the top, THE ROLLING STONES singer manning the desk for their demos. "He worked on 'Glamour Boys' and 'Which Way To America?'" explains Reid, "and he was a great producer. He really coached Corey along. But it was so fundamentally weird that he entered our lives. I didn't know where to put my hands."

Seizing his opportunity, Reid threw everything on his mental jukebox at LIVING COLOUR's deathless debut, 1988's "Vivid". "You had 'Broken Hearts' on the same album as 'Cult Of Personality'," he points out of a tracklisting where anything could happen. "We might be playing metal one moment then writing a country song with hip-hop the next. Or 'Funny Vibe', which is like prog-folk informed by KING CRIMSON."

Sailing to No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard chart — and ultimately double-platinum status — "Vivid" proved adventurous music could still sell by the ton. The following year, a support on the STONES' "Steel Wheels"/"Urban Jungle" tour bumped their profile — and gave Reid a close-up glimpse at the rock 'n' roll super-league. "Backstage on that STONES tour they had all the parlor games — I remember Bill Wyman kicking my ass at ping-pong!" he recalls.

Alongside LIVING COLOUR's six albums and counting, Reid has worn a thousand different hats since those breakout years, whether producing Grammy-nominated albums for the likes of Salif Keita, composing hit movie scores or lending his guitar skills to a who's who, including Janet Jackson, B.B. King, Tracy Chapman and Mariah Carey.

No doubt, it's these competing demands that mean Reid's solo career (which began with 1996's "Mistaken Identity") has lain dormant since 2004's "Known Unknown". "But with everything that's been happening, suddenly I had a focus," he says of the febrile context to "Hoodoo Telemetry". "Y'know, the world is a ball on a pendulum. It swings. Right now, we're living through unprecedented times, and not just in America."

In hard times, "Hoodoo Telemetry" doesn't have the answers. But to play Vernon Reid's breathtakingly ambitious new album is to hear every shade of humanity and question where we are headed next. "These songs are looking at the past through a different lens, then looking forward," he concludes. "Like, 'Where is this going and how are we getting there? Are we driving the bus or are we passengers in this self-driving vehicle into the future?' That's the space that 'Hoodoo Telemetry' is really exploring…"

Track listing — CD/digital:

01. Door Of No Return
02. Freedom Jazz Dance
03. Good Afternoon Everyone
04. The Haunting
05. Bronx Paradox
06. Or Knot
07. Dying To Live
08. Politician
09. Black Fathom Five
10. Beautiful Bastard
11. Meditation On The Last Times I Saw Arthur Rhames
12. My Little Zulu Babe
13. In Effigy
14. Brave New World

Track listing — LP:

A1. Door Of No Return
A2. Freedom Jazz Dance
A3. Good Afternoon Everyone
A4. The Haunting
A5. Dying To Live
B1. Politician
B2. Black Fathom Five
B3. Beautiful Bastard
B4. My Little Zulu Babe
B5. In Effigy

Photo credit: Justin Borucki

Respected Danish vocalist and guitarist Mike Tramp has released his latest single, "Fight To Survive", from the upcoming album "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III", which is the third album in a series where he reinterprets songs from his former band WHITE LION. As was the case with "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. I" and "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. II" once again sees Tramp accompanied by his current solo band. "Fight To Survive" arrives accompanied by an official music video, available to view below.

Speaking about "Fight To Survive", Mike comments: "It would have made more sense to name our final album 'Fight To Survive' instead of the first one, 41 years ago. The truth is, the story of 'Fight To Survive', both the album and its title track, perfectly captures what it felt like to form a band, write songs, head to Europe to record, return to America, land a major record deal, and then watch the label refuse to release the album just four months later. We spent the next three years fighting to survive. Every time I sing this song, it takes me right back to that moment."

In a recent interview with Dawn Osborne of TotalRock, Tramp was asked if "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III" is the final album in the series. Tramp responded: "I think when the first one came out, I was still very unsure about really what it was I was doing. To be honest, I think that I somehow both pushed myself into it and felt somehow obligated that since I couldn't go anywhere, regardless of if I showed up on stage with an acoustic guitar or two monkeys, they still will put WHITE LION on the poster. And so I had to find a way to deal with that. And I was speaking with Marcus [Nand], which now does the fine guitar work, and I had asked him if this was possible to sort of [put together] a refurbished version of the classic WHITE LION songs that sounds like how I sound today but at the same time is as close to the original as possible. So when we had done the first one, the first thing any interviewer did was, [they asked] will there be a number two? And, obviously, I started thinking about that. And as we got into number two, I knew there was gonna be a number three."

Asked if he has now re-recorded all the WHITE LION songs or if there are still some that he left out, Mike said: "No. No. And I really had hoped that I wouldn't get confronted with this, because somebody actually spoke to me the other day. He says, 'You know what? I know you you're talking about the completion of the trilogy.' He says, 'I think you [should] just record all the songs so that all the songs have been re-recorded and then that's that.' And I started thinking, 'Wow, okay.'"

Tramp continued: "It's sort of an easy thing to take on because most of the work is already there. Now jumping aside, doing the number three, we went in to do that album completely different than we did the first one. And had I known that we were going to do all three, I wouldn't have made the first one being like a 'greatest hits'. I would've balanced it. I wouldn't have put 'Tell Me', 'Wait' and 'Little Fighter', the big WHITE LION songs, on one album; I would've spread them out. Now as we're doing volume three, a lot of people have already said, when they hear this, this feels like a fresh new album. It's very heavy, it's the dark songs, et cetera, et cetera, and it doesn't just feel like you've just gone in there… Because there's a lot of songs that might not have been the familiar songs with the sort of average rock fan, the WHITE LION fan that knows the three songs. But for those who know the darker tracks from 'Fight To Survive' and 'Big Game' and things like that, this is an album that I really, really actually enjoy myself listening to."

"Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III" will arrive on September 19 via Frontiers Music Srl.

The official music video for the LP's lead single, "Cherokee", can be seen below.

In July, Tramp spoke about how this series of recordings came together, stating in a press release: "For me, the point of re-recording the old classic WHITE LION songs was all about letting the audience know how the band would sound if they come to see us live. Bringing the sound up today and away from a world no more.

"When I started with 'Vol. I', I must admit, I never thought I'd do 'Vol. II' and now 'Vol. III'," he continues. "But having done it all now, makes all the more sense to me. If I have to be active playing WHITE LION in 2025 and onward, there's got to be a natural progression in every way. That is exactly what this trilogy is all about."

In this final installment, Tramp revisits and reimagines ten more essential songs from the WHITE LION catalog, bringing them back to life with the passion, perspective, and authenticity that only decades of experience can deliver.

Once again backed by his trusted bandmates — Marcus Nand (guitar),Claus Langeskov (bass) and Morten Hellborn (drums) — Tramp offers fresh but respectful renditions of these classic tracks, capturing their spirit while elevating them with a more refined, seasoned sound.

From the raw defiance of "Fight To Survive" to the cinematic power of "Warsong" and the infectious rhythm of "Radar Love", this album is both a celebration and a reawakening.

Standing as more than a simple re-recording project, "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III" is the emotional conclusion of a trilogy — a journey through time, memory, and music that connects the past to the present with integrity and fire.

"Songs Of White Lion - Vol. III" track listing:

01. Dirty Woman
02. Warsong
03. Fight To Survive
04. She's Got Everything
05. In The City
06. If My Mind Is Evil
07. Cherokee
08. All Burn In Hell
09. Don't Say It's Over
10. Radar Love

In a January 2025 interview with Australia's Heavy, Tramp was asked how he has managed to keep his voice in shape after all these years. Tramp, who turned 64 earlier that month, said:  "You know what? Obviously, you will recognize that it's the same singer, but it was very important for me that the growth of Mike Tramp through all the albums that I've done and the touring and the traveling became… Let's say, in reality, [WHITE LION] had not broken up. There would have been a natural progression. Vito Bratta and myself, which, of course, were the foundation of WHTIE LION, the songwriters, already knew that when we recording 'Mane Attraction', our fourth album, our last album. If you go back, you will already see that we were making the first step towards prog rock, where we wanted the band to go. We were going much more towards bands like JOURNEY, KANSAS or STYX and whatever bands would have come. We wanted the band to be a band of music and little by little, the hair would become less important. So, with my albums that have gone on, my voice has naturally just changed bit by bit a year. So when I reintroduced the WHITE LION songs, I definitely cannot sing them in the same key. So once we refurbished them and once we found the new key to the songs, I also went out there now with the knowledge of knowing that I wrote those songs 40 years ago. I wanted to sort of say, 'I'm gonna sing them a little different.'"

Asked why it was important for him to recreate those songs, Mike said: "Yeah, without any disrespect to myself and the band that I started, I personally cannot stand listening to the versions from that time. I was in a completely different place. So, for me to play these songs again, I had to find something that felt new and fresh, even though it was the same thing. So by singing these songs again and changing the keys of the songs, it's almost like they became fatter and fuller and not so gung-ho. We were so fast and singing so high and flying in the air. Now I'm going up to the mic stand and I'm fully in control. I used to run out on stage with WHITE LION and started screaming at the audience, and the band would look at me, 'He's gonna collapse in 10 seconds.' [Now I'm] going out fully confident and saying, 'We're gonna play these songs now for the sake of music.'"

When "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. II" was first announced last year, Tramp said in a statement: "Would Leonardo Da Vinci have re-painted 'Mona Lisa', if he had gotten a second chance? That we will never know, but I can say for sure, that I am beyond thrilled to have gotten a second chance to re-record and sing the songs I wrote between 1983 - 1990. Today I have such a better understanding of how I want to express the songs in my voice than I had when I was in my 20s, it's just a fact, and I've grabbed the chance. 'Songs Of White Lion' is a whole new chapter. [As a] matter of fact, it is current."

Tramp spent most of 2024 and the first half of 2025 touring the U.S. and Europe with his band MIKE TRAMP'S WHITE LION, which doesn't included any other members of the original WHITE LION group.

In 2023, Tramp was asked in an interview about the possibility of WHITE LION reforming for a tour. He said: "When we broke up in '91, we always knew we would never go back together. And a lot of people always talk about reunions. WHITE LION reuniting would not be a better WHITE LION than WHITE LION was, so I'm out there performing the songs, not trying to recreate WHITE LION."

Asked if he has ever thought of calling his solo band WHITE LION and touring with new members, Mike replied: "I can't call it WHITE LION." Pressed about whether he would call his band WHITE LION if he could, Mike said: "I tried, and it cost me money. [Laughs] I think that the audience now is understanding that I'm just keeping the songs alive, and I'm able to perform it in a different way. I'm able to show the image that I'm not coming out there and doing a show but I'm gonna take them through like a greatest hits. I like to tell stories about what the songs are. You can't always do that on a festival when you have one hour, but that is my goal, that I will keep the songs alive. And I think that all the fans and the music fans know who Mike Tramp is and it doesn't need to be called WHITE LION. But it's called 'Songs Of White Lion'."

Back in 2019, Tramp revealed in an interview that he had apologized to guitarist Vito Bratta for trying to resurrect his former band without his onetime songwriting partner and bandmate.

The Danish-born singer hasn't played with Bratta since WHITE LION performed its last concert in Boston in September 1991.

In the 34 years since WHITE LION broke up, Bratta's public profile has been virtually nonexistent, while Tramp has remained active, recording and touring as a solo artist and with the bands FREAK OF NATURE, THE ROCK 'N' ROLL CIRCUZ and, more recently, BAND OF BROTHERS. Tramp also attempted to revive WHITE LION with the 2008 album "Return Of The Pride", featuring new members. Two years later, Tramp ceded ownership of the name WHITE LION to Bratta in an out-of-court settlement.

Speaking to SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation", Tramp said that he and Vito are once again on speaking terms following his ill-fated attempt to bring back WHITE LION a decade and a half ago.

"I have, over the past couple of years, been the one out there basically both admitting and apologizing that the only thing that I never planned to do in my career and wanted to do was go back and rehash a version of WHITE LION that had nothing to do with WHITE LION, nothing to do with the guys that played in the band," Mike said. "Mike Tramp's heart was not in it. It was just a moment of weakness, not believing enough in my solo albums. [You listen to] some guys saying, 'Hey, if you put a new WHITE LION together, you can play festivals and get much more money.' And then you fall for that and you engage in it and you go out there, and then you realize it's not what you wanna do. And then, of course, Vito did not want the name WHITE LION to be used without him being in the band. And it actually took a couple of years for me to really understand how much it meant to Vito. And when Vito one day told me in one of these conversations… First of all, he told me, 'Mike, I'm not against you. I just don't wanna turn YouTube on and see the title 'WHITE LION live in so and so,' and somebody doing 'When The Children Cry' solo and it's not me. WHITE LION was you and me, it was our band, we wrote the songs. That is the memories I want for the rest of my life.' And when he told me that, I had tears in my eyes and I totally understood it, because I had also gotten to that point that when we closed WHITE LION, we felt that this is where we wanted to stop it. There was something, going into the '90s, that didn't agree with the things we were looking at, and we wanted to somehow end it on a higher level than something that would not represent us in the future. But it just took many years to really understand it."

Asked if he understands why Vito doesn't want to play music professionally anymore, Mike said: "Yes, I do, because there are actually times when I also don't feel like doing it anymore. When all the magic around us, the stuff that made us fall in love with rock and roll — first of all, our heroes, then the industry, then the touring stuff — when all of that was really exposed that it was a two-faced kind of thing, that the people we thought loved us — and I'm not talking about the fans; I'm talking about the people that made money from us, and stuff like that — turned their back on us and stabbed us in the back, it really ripped us apart. And maybe it's just that I came from a different background than Vito, that I maybe was a little bit stronger or just of a different nature that I just fought back, but Vito just said, 'I just don't wanna deal with this.' And I understand now — I understand it from every conversation that I have with him."

Tramp also once again closed the door on a possible WHITE LION reunion, saying: "I can't be Mike Tramp 1988. I can't sing like that, and I'm not going up on stage and doing a half-assed job, which most of the bands out there are doing."

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

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

Mike released "Songs Of White Lion", in April 2023 via Frontiers Music Srl. "Songs Of White Lion - Vol. II" followed in August 2024.

Photo credit: Michael Anthony

During an August 13 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", SCORPIONS frontman Klaus Meine and guitarists Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs were asked if there are any plans for the band to work on the follow-up to 2022's "Rock Believer" album. Rudolf responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "If Klaus has enough lyrics for us to [work with], because this was a very good idea when we did 'Rock Believer'. Klaus came, [for] the first time, with a package of lyrics like this and said, 'Rudolf, look inside, what you can find. Maybe there's something.' And I was at a studio in [Thailand] and I was driving around. [I was in the] studio doing some demos, getting our engineer over. And [I was able to] get everything in form [and] send it to the guys.

"Today, everything is possible to get in form what the songs are all about," Rudolf continued. "And I think this new way of working and composing, it's great because if you go into a routine, you get into the boring direction. But if you have now lyrics and you know, 'Ah, this is great,' that's fantastic."

After Klaus chimed in, "I sent [Rudolf some new] lyrics quite a while ago, but I still haven't heard back," Rudolf clarified: "[He sent me] one lyric. One song. And the song is supposed to be a really kick-ass kind of [track]. But the point is you have to get the right momentum. That's the important point… But I think the time will be right in the right time. On the other hand, [SCORPIONS' classic power ballad] 'Still Loving You' was waiting for seven and a half years until the band was ready to play it. Because [former SCORPIONS guitarist] Uli Jon Roth didn't wanna play it because it was too much… I don't know what. We talked about it, but it was not the right moment… And then [we eventually recorded it]. This was the time where everybody was ready to make it, and that's the important point to have the patience, to wait long enough."

Referencing the fact that he is 77 years old while Rudolf is 76, Klaus added: "But back then, seven years was no big deal. But now it's a whole different story."

This past February, Meine told Scorpions Brazil that "there are many good reasons why we maybe should [create new music], because it's so much fun, and to write new songs and to give it a try. And we have such a great team working with us. And our co-producer, engineer, Hans-Martin Buff, just received a Grammy in L.A. for his working with Peter Gabriel on 3D sounds. He is very specialized on 3D productions now, and he is really, really good, and it's always fun to work with him in the studio, record vocals, record new songs. And we have such a great setup.

"So there are a million good reasons to go back into the studio sometime soon," he continued. "But, on the other side, these days, it's not the time anymore really to make albums. It might be good to record a few songs; that would be a good thing. But it's always a good option to go back and to wake up your creativity. That's always something great, and we enjoy this always. So I don't know. But let's see how it goes this year. And there's so many shows coming up, and, yeah, we've gotta bring it on first before we make plans for what might come up in '26."

"Rock Believer" was recorded primarily at Peppermint Park Studios in Hannover, Germany and was mixed at the legendary Hansa Studios in Berlin, Germany with engineer Michael Ilbert, who has earned multiple Grammy nominations for his mix work with producer Max Martin on albums by Taylor Swift and Katy Perry.

SCORPIONS originally intended to record "Rock Believer" in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, whose previous credits include SLIPKNOT and METALLICA. However, because of the pandemic, some of the initial work was done with Greg remotely, after which SCORPIONS opted to helm the recordings themselves with the help of their engineer Hans-Martin Buff.

SCORPIONS' latest album marked their first release since 2017's "Born To Touch Your Feelings - Best Of Rock Ballads", which was an anthology of new and classic material.

SCORPIONS' previous full-length collection of new recordings was "Return To Forever", partially comprising songs the band had in the vault from the '80s. It was the final recorded appearance of SCORPIONS' longtime drummer James Kottak, who was dismissed from the band in September 2016. He has since been replaced by Mikkey Dee, formerly of MOTÖRHEAD.

In January, SCORPIONS postponed their 2025 Las Vegas residency due to Dee's recovery from his recent hospitalization. Promoted by Live Nation and Caesars Entertainment, "Scorpions - Coming Home To Las Vegas 60th Anniversary Las Vegas Residency" was scheduled to kick off on February 27, 2025 at PH Live at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. SCORPIONS.

The new dates are as follows: August 14, August 16, August 19, August 21 and August 23.

BUCKCHERRY will still provide support for the new SCORPIONS Las Vegas residency dates.

In celebration of SCORPIONS' 60th anniversary, the new show follows the band's two previous sold-out residencies at the venue — "Scorpions - Love at First Sting Las Vegas" in 2024 and "Sin City Nights" in 2022.

Earlier in January, Mikkey, who was previously a member of MOTÖRHEAD for 23 years, revealed that he was recovering after spending most of the holiday season battling a "very serious blood infection (Sepsis)."

Photo credit: Marc Theis (courtesy of Wilful Publicity)

In a new interview with The Razor's Edge, vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe was asked if we can expect to hear any new MY DYING BRIDE material, eight months after it was announced that the renowned English doom metal band had recruited SWALLOW THE SUN vocalist Mikko Kotamäki to front MY DYING BRIDE for its live appearances in 2025. Aaron, who co-founded MY DYING BRIDE in 1990 with guitarist Andrew Craighan, responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, weirdly, when we did the last album — we always record more songs than we actually need, so we've got something left over for an EP. So when we did [2024's] 'A Mortal Binding', again, there was a couple of songs left over for an EP. And then we had a big argument. But those songs are still somewhere, I think probably with Mark Mynett, the engineer. And so there's two songs that no one's ever heard — except, obviously, MY DYING BRIDE — waiting for the go-ahead. But I know there's been turmoil at [MY DYING BRIDE's record label] Nuclear Blast as well. All my contacts have gone, so I really don't know what's happening at Nuclear Blast, and I'm not entirely sure what's happening with MY DYING BRIDE, but there are two songs floating around in limbo at the moment. Regarding brand new MY DYING BRIDE songs, well, I know they're writing new stuff at the moment, but we haven't got the argument out of the way yet. So until that's sorted, I won't be singing for them."

Asked if he is hopeful that he will be able to repair his relationship with his MY DYING BRIDE bandmates, Aaron said: "Well, I'd like to think so, because there's 30 years of really, really good, really good work. And a band as respectful of that shouldn't just wither and die. So we need to work on fixing that."

Last month, MY DYING BRIDE guitarist Andrew Craighan spoke to Metalirium about the band's decision to recruit Kotamäki to front MY DYING BRIDE for its live appearances in 2025 after a dispute with Stainthorpe. Asked how the collaboration with Mikko came about, Andrew said: "Despite all the problems, the band was willing and ready to perform the remaining shows in 2024, but, unfortunately, there was no willing singer. The band only discovered this at the very last minute, which led to the cancelation. Given that the album had just been released, the band was not prepared to be sidelined. As a result, a meeting was organized to discuss the possibility of a replacement. Mikko was the unanimous first choice."

As for Aaron's current status with MY DYING BRIDE, Andrew said: "As Aaron has, in truth, distanced himself from the band, we are only aware of his activities through social media and online interviews. The band contacted him in March 2025 to enquire about his intentions with MY DYING BRIDE, but he has not responded. We first learned through social media that he was on a hiatus from MDB. Although he states online that he is still part of the band, he has not engaged with us since April 2024. So, in response to your question, the band does not know what his plans with MDB are."

Kotamäki has already played several shows with MY DYING BRIDE in Europe, including at the Rockmaraton Fesztivál in Hungary, the Pit Of Metal in Slovakia and at the Dark River festival in Finland.

During a recent appearance on the Iblis Manifestations podcast, Stainthorpe stated about his current status with MY DYING BRIDE: "Well, in fact, the last thing I heard was they're writing new material as well now, which is interesting. I have not heard from Andrew for over a year. And as me and him are the only founder members left… And we never had a manager. Me and Andrew managed as best we could for years and years and years. There was only one stint when we nearly got a manager — Ronnie James Dio's ex-wife, funnily enough. That was a long, long time ago. So me and Andrew figured, 'Well, we could probably do it.' So we had a go of it, and then we had this big bust-up — I can't even remember when it was now, a year ago, a year and a half. And I thought, 'We'll let it die down a bit, and when we come to our senses, we'll get around the table, thrash out our differences and reignite the band.' And then I saw they were gigging without me. So I thought, obviously there's no communication then. So, what do I do? I'll just keep doing what I do until there is some communication. And there still hasn't been. So I'm getting on with my life. I'm not gonna sit there and stew and wait for things to happen. I'm gonna crack on and maintain a busy schedule. But I've no idea who they're gonna use in the studio, if they do a new album. I don't even know if there's a record deal anymore, 'cause everything's gone pear shaped at Nuclear Blast. I don't even know if Nuclear Blast is operating as a full record label anymore. I've heard all kinds of weird stories. And I know for a fact that the guy I used to chat with at Nuclear Blast, he's not there anymore. So over the last couple of years there's been massive, massive changes. So I don't even know if MY DYING BRIDE have a deal. And if they do, I don't know where that leaves me. I've not left the band, and I haven't been kicked out, so I don't understand where we're gonna go. I don't know what the future is. But having been a founder member and in the band for 35 years, I'm not leaving. If they wanna do things without me, well, good luck to 'em."

When Iblis Manifestations host Shayan noted that "it sounds like quite a complicated situation" in light of the fact that a legal MY DYING BRIDE partnership exists between Aaron and Andrew, Stainthorpe concurred. "Yeah. And it'll only get more complicated," he said. "I don't fully understand it. You would hope and imagine that as a founder member who hasn't left, I would have some authority somehow, but it seems not. So I don't really know. I'm probably gonna have to seek legal advice at some point. Obviously, I didn't want to, and I don't want to, but if a record comes out, a MY DYING BRIDE record comes out, and I'm not on it, but I'm still officially the singer, I don't know legally what I'm supposed to do. So at some point, unfortunately, it looks like I might have to seek legal advice, which in this country we have the musicians' union, so it's not a problem. They've got all the experts. And I do know some people quite high up in the business. So I've got people with their finger on the pulse so I can chat with them and just see what's what. But I don't want to. I would just rather keep singing MY DYING BRIDE songs. But maybe I don't have a choice with that."

Aaron also clarified that his involvement with his new band HIGH PARASITE, which released its debut album, "Forever We Burn", last September via Candlelight/Spinefarm, didn't create any issues with MY DYING BRIDE, despite fan speculation to the contrary. "Yeah, there was never gonna be a conflict," he explained. "MDB do about 15 gigs a year, and [there is] sometimes three or four years between albums. I could be in 10 bands and it wouldn't affect the scheduling of MY DYING BRIDE. I spoke to [HIGH PARASITE bassist/vocalist Danny] Tombs [Lambert] back in the day and I said, 'Here's some MY DYING BRIDE gigs. Make sure there's no HIGH PARASITE [gigs] clashing, any clashing of any gigs at all.' And he said, 'Absolutely fine. That will not happen.' And, well, it never even got that far, because we had a big bust-up before then, and the gigs got canceled anyway.

"You don't sacrifice the main band for your smaller band," Aaron continued. "That doesn't happen. Can you imagine Lars Ulrich saying to METALLICA, 'Do you know what, guys? Can we cancel those big gigs, 'cause me and my mates wanna mess around in this other band?' It doesn't work that way. It doesn't happen like that. And it would be ridiculous to even think that. 'Cause I know some people think, 'Oh, Aaron's concentrating more on HIGH PARASITE than MY DYING BRIDE. So he sacrificed MY DYING BRIDE for HIGH PARASITE.' You don't do things like that. It's utterly, utterly ridiculous. And why would I? MY DYING BRIDE has been an absolute delight for me for 30-odd years. I'm not gonna let that go. And I'm certainly not gonna let another, a smaller band batter it out the way. It doesn't work like that. Literally every musician I know is in more than one band. It's easy. Anyone can do it. It's not an issue."

Asked if he has been in touch with any other members of MY DYING BRIDE, Aaron said: "I see Neil [Blanchett, guitar] every once in a while for a beer in Halifax. But zero communication with the others. They've all got my details."

Pressed as to whether he has tried to reach out to the other members of MY DYING BRIDE since the "bust-up" happened that he mentioned earlier in the interview, Aaron said: "There's no point. There's no point because if they're not contacting me, they don't want to. So it's pointless me chasing them. They're doing what they wanna do and they clearly wanna do it without me."

Aaron went on to say that he is still holding out hope things could be ironed out between him and the other members of MY DYING BRIDE in the coming months.

"The reason why I'm not screaming and shouting is because I genuinely think it's not over," he said. "If I knew it was definitely over, then, yeah, I'd be heartbroken. But I try to remain optimistic that somehow we can work stuff out. I don't see why we can't. We're not kids. We're not a gang. We can surely work something out. Because normally when bands split up, there's normally some sort of financial irregularity, someone's run off with all the money, or there's some infidelity — 'You slept with my wife' or 'you slept with my wife.' Bands split up because of serious — something's gone really bad, really bad. We have none of that, which is why I think we can get back together. But let's see."

Asked what he would say to Andrew right now if the guitarist was listening to the interview, Aaron said: "Give us a ring. Give us a ring. It's not hard, is it?"

"A Mortal Binding" came out in April 2024 via Nuclear Blast Records.

HIGH PARASITE's debut LP, the aforementioned "Forever We Burn" — with Stainthorpe and Lambert at the helm — was produced by Gregor Mackintosh of PARADISE LOST.

Photo credit: Matt Wells

In a recent interview with WMMR's Brent Porche, conducted just prior to Ozzy Osbourne's passing, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman Jesse Leach was asked if he had a chance to check out any of the footage of the "Back To The Beginning" concert, which marked Ozzy and BLACK SABBATH's final performance. Jesse responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): " Yeah, just the clips that I've seen online. I haven't sat and watched the whole thing. And it's rock and roll history, really. At the end of the day, without SABBATH, where would any of us be? I'm a massive SABBATH and Ozzy fan, so it was nice to see people pay tribute to them, to the legacy, really. It's beautiful."

Asked if he had any memorable Ozzy or BLACK SABBATH moments to share, perhaps about seeing them live for the first time or sharing the stage with them, Jesse said: "[I] never got to see SABBATH or Ozzy live — ever. Never. Never. I would say the big turning point for me was seeing Ozzy on MTV when I was a kid, and the first song I saw was his duet with Lita Ford, 'Close My Eyes [Forever]'. And just the way he looked. As a kid, I was, like, 'This guy's crazy. Who is this guy?' Because I had no idea. I grew up a very sheltered Christian life. My dad's a minister, so I was not allowed to watch that stuff. So seeing it for the first time, I was so intrigued of who this guy was, and I became obsessed with Ozzy Osbourne, and, of course, I heard about the bat head and all that stuff. So, to me, it was Ozzy first, and then I knew about BLACK SABBATH after. BLACK SABBATH was huge for me, discovering them later in my life, just 'cause they're godfathers of heavy metal. The sound of the guitar, everything about it, it just changed everything for me and they changed rock and roll when they came out."

In a separate interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Leach was asked what BLACK SABBATH has meant to him personally. Jesse said: "The music world owes a great debt to both Ozzy as the solo artist and BLACK SABBATH. The majority of the bands that are kicking it right now owe a debt to BLACK SABBATH… And I'll always be a massive fan of both Ozzy Osbourne solo and BLACK SABBATH. Very important stuff."

When Meltdown noted that BLACK SABBATH had a rare chance to "say goodbye" to the fans before one or more of the original bandmembers was no longer with us, Jesse concurred. "Yeah, I think that's cool when bands [were] able to do that," he said. "And it's also good to know when the time has come. And I hope that we have the wherewithal to know when it's just probably not the best look right now. But you look at a band like IRON MAIDEN — I mean, [MAIDEN singer] Bruce Dickinson, to me, is still prime. He's still peak. The guy is in his sixties. We've done two tours with him now, and every night he's just on it. And I'm, like, I wanna be even just a quarter that good at that age. So it can be done, but it is smart to know when to call it and to be able to have your final say in how your legacy ends."

Leach's KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bandmate, guitarist and producer Adam Dutkiewicz spoke to Heaviness In Metal Music Production about how the perception of heaviness in metal production evolved from the rumbling power of BLACK SABBATH to the technical aggression that defines modern metal. He said: " Well, I guess it more started with aggressive music. My brother exposed me to a lot of punk rock, hardcore music like that. So it was always about the attitude, the aggression and the push. And then I guess just slowly over time, I was introduced to more things like — obviously, when you hear SABBATH for the first time… I think if you think about it, SABBATH is probably one of the first things out there in the modern guitar-based heavy kind of vibe that started the whole thing. And then when I got to the combination of that metal sound with the aggressiveness with METALLICA, that really changed my life with like what the way I wanted to play guitar and what I looked for in the music that I wanted to write."

Ozzy died the morning of July 22, his family announced in a statement.

"It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time," the family said.

No cause of death was given, but Osbourne had battled a number of health issues over the past several years, including Parkinson's disease and injuries he sustained from a late-night fall in 2019.

In a new interview with The Jesea Lee Show, I PREVAIL frontman Eric Vanlerberghe spoke about the band's recently released three singles, "Violent Nature", "Into Hell" and "Rain". Issued in May, "Violent Nature" — which is the title track of I PREVAIL's upcoming album — marked the band's first new music since the surprise departure of longtime clean vocalist Brian Burkheiser. Eric said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "In the past I've sang on some other stuff before, like a little bit of harmonies and little sections on past stuff. So I knew there was something there. We just didn't know quite what… I was still learning and finding my voice… And, yeah. I'm excited for people to hear the [full-length] record, 'cause there's a lot more of me just belting."

Asked if he had to "retrain" his voice in a different way or do anything differently now that he is handling most of the vocals in I PREVAIL, Eric said: "No, not really. It was more of just learning and experimenting. I'd go in the booth and belt a line and be, like, 'Oh, okay. That's a little out of my comfort zone. Let's drop it a key. Let's mess with the melody. Let's tweak it a bit.' And so it was a lot of learning with the band, learning my voice, the band learning what I can do and what I am capable of. But for the live shows, I've definitely — David Benitez, shoutout to my boy, he definitely helped me with some warmups, 'cause in the past I'd just shoot some whiskey, get loosened up and go rip it. But now I'm, like, 'All right, I need to prep my voice a little bit more.'"

Regarding the reactions from the I PREVAIL fans to the band's new era, Eric said: "There's always gonna be people that are in love with the old stuff and how things were, and that's totally understandable. Many bands go through changes, and it's something to get used to. But overall, it's been incredible. Some of these songs, just on the first 24 hours, have been our best-streamed songs so far. We're seeing a lot of people come in and be, like, 'I've never really given you guys a listen. I've never given you a chance, but I came across 'Violent Nature', I came across 'Into Hell', and, yeah, I'm going back through and listening and I'm loving it.' So it's generally mostly positive, and it's been awesome to have the fanbase that we have. All y'all out there listening and supporting, thank you. It's been quite an experience, learning and growing and just super grateful of the fans that have been supporting us and the new people checking us out. It's been incredible."

I PREVAIL's fourth studio album, "Violent Nature", will arrive on September 19 via Fearless. The music video for the LP's third single, the aforementioned "Rain", can be seen below.

"Rain" is a powerful, emotionally charged track showcasing I PREVAIL's ability to balance heaviness with vulnerability. It feels both aggressive and cleansing as it explores the weight of suffering and the relief that comes with finally being set free from misery. It sets the tone for what’s to come in the new record: a collection of tracks that are darker, deeper, and more intense than ever.

Vanlerberghe previously shared his thoughts on the new track, saying in a statement: "'Rain' was one of the first songs we wrote for the record. As time went along and more songs started filling up the tracklist, it continued to be one of my favorite songs. Thematically, 'Rain' deals with acceptance of things out of your control and finding clarity."

In June, I PREVAIL released the steadfast anthem "Into Hell", following the arrival of the band's heaviest track to date, "Violent Nature", the month prior. Both releases marked a major turning point for I PREVAIL as they ushered in a new chapter with Vanlerberghe as the only lead singer.

The entire record was produced by I PREVAIL's bass player Jon Eberhard, and it boasts a total of ten hard-hitting tracks.

"Violent Nature" track listing:

01. Synthetic Soul
02. NWO
03. Pray
04. Annihilate Me
05. Violent Nature
06. Rain
07. Into Hell
08. Crimson & Clover
09. God
10. Stay Away

In a recent interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Vanlerberghe spoke about I PREVAIL's new music. Eric said: "We're really, really excited to put this stuff out. We had the first single ['Violent Nature'], which is quite heavy. [We put that out first] kind to shake up the fanbase and kind of throw everyone… We love to… If you look back at our track record, the first singles have always been either what we thought was just a big home run or something that was just a little off of center, and this one felt like the perfect one to like jar the fanbase and shake up the metal community that I don't think was prepared to hear something like that from us. And then following up with 'Into Hell', which is a complete left turn off of what we just released. But I think that's just what our band's always done, has had this dichotomy or had this like eclectic sound. We're all fans of heavy stuff to pop stuff to… There's some country songs that slip into my playlist just 'cause they're undeniably well written. So [we're] loving all types of music, and it's awesome to be able to filter that into our sound and to put out records that have… Whatever emotion you're looking for, we've probably got it. If you want something to bang your head through the wall, we have that. Do you need something just to sing along to and feel good? We have a couple of those, and everything in between."

Regarding "Into Hell", Eric said: "The song means a lot to me, and I had a lot of fun writing with the guys. When we were picking the singles off the record, we had a couple in mind and sent it over to the radio team and the label, and it was funny. They all picked this one. And not to say that we weren't stoked for that one; we just didn't think that… We were, like, 'Oh, man. Really? You guys think that's single worthy?' And we were, like, 'All right. We'll trust you.' It's not that it's a song that we disliked or anything. We weren't sure if anyone else was gonna see the vision like we did. And, yeah, we're just really, really excited and stoked that our team backed it as much as we felt it. And, yeah, stoked to finally have this out, man."

Burkheiser had handled the clean vocals in I PREVAIL since the band's formation but was forced to step away from the group's touring activities due to his battle with Eagle's syndrome, a condition associated with the elongation of the styloid process or calcification of the stylohyoid ligament, clinically characterized by throat and neck pain, radiating into the ear. In Burkheiser's absence, co-vocalist/growler Vanlerberghe had handled the bulk of the singing in I PREVAIL, with the help of guitarist Dylan Bowman.

Speaking about his increased vocal role within I PREVAIL, Eric told Meltdown: "I'm singing all over this [upcoming] record now. I've sang a little bit on the past records, parts here and there and harmonies and stuff. But for this time around to go into this and going, all right, well, we're not gonna change our sound dramatically. This is still I PREVAIL. We're gonna have the heavy stuff, but we're also gonna have the hooks that we love to write, the big choruses, trying to aim to write those big choruses. So going into the studio and writing in our little unit we've got, it was — I don't wanna say 'challenging'. It was a big learning curve, but also it was awesome to… When you're doing something creative and putting yourself out there and around other people, the vibe in the room, it means a lot. If you've got someone in there you're a little uncomfortable with, and [you think], 'I don't wanna belt this note and sound bad in front of these people,' but to have my guys, the band just cheering me on and being super supportive and feeling, okay, all right. 'Let's try this melody and sing it.' And, 'Oh, man. That didn't sound good.' And not feeling dumb or feeling bad, but, like, 'Oh, no. Try it again. Try tweaking this.' Or 'You're a little sharp on that. You're good. Just get back in there. You got it.' That was [instrumental in] getting where we're at now with these songs, was just having the confidence to get in there and go, 'All right. No one else is gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. Gotta figure it out.'"

I PREVAIL just completed the "Summer Of Loud" tour alongside BEARTOOTH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and PARKWAY DRIVE as co-headliners. Main support on the trek came from THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, THE AMITY AFFLICTION and ALPHA WOLF.

I PREVAIL released its latest album, "True Power", in 2022 via Fearless Records. It was followed by a sold out, two-leg tour across the U.S. and Canada.

Last October, I PREVAIL released an expanded edition of "True Power", featuring one new song and three reimagined tracks. The updated version included the new single "Hate This Song", the band's collaborative track with ALL TIME LOW, along with reimagined versions of the album singles "Bad Things", "There's Fear In Letting Go" and "Deep End".

Rising to an arena level and receiving two Grammy nominations — "Best Rock Album" for "Trauma", and "Best Metal Performance" for "Bow Down" — I PREVAIL saw its "Hurricane" single top Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in 2020, officially the top song on U.S. rock radio at the time. A number of their singles have since been certified gold and platinum, and they have been praised by press far and wide, including Forbes, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and NPR.

I PREVAIL is:

Eric Vanlerberghe - Vocals
Steven Menoian - Guitar
Gabe Helguera - Drums
Dylan Bowman - Guitar
Jon Eberhard - Bass

In a new interview with Capital Chaos TV, CROWBAR frontman and DOWN guitarist Kirk Windstein paid tribute to legendary BLACK SABBATH singer Ozzy Osbourne, who died late last month at the age of 76. Kirk said: "Ozzy is Ozzy. There will only ever be one. BLACK SABBATH, to me, are the godfathers of heavy metal. They created heavy metal. Yeah, bands like [LED] ZEPPELIN had metal elements, and I love ZEPPELIN, but SABBATH didn't dabble in folk or acoustic stuff. They went straight into the heavy.

"Ozzy was a once-in-a-lifetime person," Kirk continued. "I've enjoyed his music with SABBATH and as a solo artist for so many years.

"It's sad. We're losing our heroes, the people who inspired us to play music. But it's part of life.

"As a guy who makes a living playing heavy music, all I can do is try to honor what those guys gave us," Windstein added.

"Ozzy will be missed forever. But like someone said online, 'Just push play'."

Five years ago, Windstein was asked by Outburn magazine if BLACK SABBATH had always been built into his DNA and is still one of his biggest influences. He responded: "Yeah. On a previous interview, I can't remember if I used the word 'subliminal' or not, but yeah, it's one of those things where I've listened to so much SABBATH. And the thing is, of course, I listened to them in the '70s when they were popular, but I'm actually a fan of the [Ronnie James] Dio era of SABBATH. I really got into SABBATH big time around the late '80s and early '90s when CROWBAR was being formed. I'd listen to the whole catalog every day. So, it's something that's definitely, as you said, in my DNA, without even thinking about it. I try to do my best Tony Iommi here and there, even with all the clean guitar stuff on [my debut solo album, 2020's 'Dream In Motion'], and the majority of it is clean guitar. There was a lot of clean guitar on SABBATH stuff as well. I think it's one of those things that I do. I have my own writing style, which I try to improve upon every time I write a song. I think a lot of it, without even trying, is automatically influenced by SABBATH."

Ozzy died the morning of July 22, his family announced in a statement.

"It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love. We ask everyone to respect our family privacy at this time," the family said.

No cause of death was given, but Osbourne had battled a number of health issues over the past several years, including Parkinson's disease and injuries he sustained from a late-night fall in 2019.

MEGADETH's Dave Mustaine has revealed that the band's forthcoming album (due out early next year) will be the final MEGADETH studio album of his career. Mustaine shared the announcement in a social post directly shared with his worldwide fanbase and Cyber Army via his alter ego Vic Rattlehead. Mustaine also revealed that the multi-platinum superstar band will embark on a global farewell tour kicking off in 2026. Also set for next year is a new memoir from Mustaine, details of which will be revealed in the coming months.

"There's so many musicians that have come to the end of their career, whether accidental or intentional," Mustaine says. "Most of them don't get to go out on their own terms on top, and that's where I'm at in my life right now. I have traveled the world and have made millions upon millions of fans and the hardest part of all of this is saying goodbye to them.

Dave adds: "We can't wait for you to hear this album and see us on tour. If there was ever a perfect time for us to put out a new album, it's now. If there was ever a perfect time to tour the world, it's now. This is also a perfect time for us to tell you that it's our last studio album. We've made a lot of friends over the years and I hope to see all of you on our global farewell tour. Don't be mad, don't be sad, be happy for us all, come celebrate with me these next few years. We have done something together that's truly wonderful and will probably never happen again. We started a musical style, we started a revolution, we changed the guitar world and how it's played, and we changed the world. The bands I played in have influenced the world. I love you all for it. Thank you for everything."

MEGADETH recently spent time in the studio putting the finishing touches on its upcoming LP. The effort will be released via Mustaine's Tradecraft imprint with the Frontiers Label Group's new imprint BLKIIBLK.

MEGADETH is once again working with Chris Rakestraw, a producer, mixer and engineer who previously worked on MEGADETH's last two albums, 2022's "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!" and 2016's "Dystopia".

MEGADETH guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari joined the band two years ago. Mäntysaari stepped in as the replacement for Brazilian-born guitarist Kiko Loureiro, who announced in September 2023 that he would sit out the next leg of MEGADETH's "Crush The World" tour in order to stay home with his children back in Finland. It was later revealed that the now-38-year-old Finnish musician would continue to play guitar for MEGADETH for the foreseeable future, with Loureiro seemingly having no plans to return.

Mäntysaari was born in Tampere, Finland and began playing guitar at the age of 12. In 2004, he joined the band WINTERSUN. He has also been a member of SMACKBOUND since 2015.

Released in September 2022, MEGADETH's latest album, "The Sick, The Dying... And The Dead!", sold 48,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart. It marked MEGADETH's eighth top 10-charting album.

MEGADETH's previous top 10 entries on the Billboard 200 were "Countdown To Extinction" (No. 2, 1992),"Youthanasia" (No. 4, 1994),"Cryptic Writings" (No. 10, 1997),"United Abominations" (No. 8, 2007),"Endgame" (No. 9, 2009),"Super Collider" (No. 6, 2013) and "Dystopia" (No. 3, 2016).

Led by the growled vocals and razor-wire riffing of Mustaine, MEGADETH are one of the "Big Four" thrash titans. Shortly after being kicked out of METALLICA in 1983, Mustaine met bassist David Ellefson, and the pair bonded quickly, forming the core of MEGADETH. Drummer Gar Samuelson and guitarist Chris Poland later joined, and MEGADETH released their underground-hit debut "Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!" in 1985. Its follow-up, "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?", solidified the band's status with sprawling yet tightly wound songs like the uneasy opener "Wake Up Dead" and the fiery title track.

"So Far, So Good... So What!", released in 1988, featured a new lineup as well as a thrashy cover of the SEX PISTOLS' "Anarchy In The U.K." and the anti-PMRC broadside "Hook In Mouth". In 1990 they released "Rust In Peace", with Nick Menza on drums and technical wizard Marty Friedman on guitar; songs such as "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Hangar 18" blended pummeling riffs and suspicion-fueled lyrics with a stadium-rock ambition that matched the era's metal-embracing tendencies.

"Countdown To Extinction", released in 1992, and "Youthanasia", released in 1994, continued the band's dominance of metal and emergence in rock's mainstream, with the latter album's "À Tout Le Monde" being a rare thrash ballad. After a brief breakup in the early 2000s, MEGADETH returned as a de facto Mustaine solo project with 2004's "The System Has Failed". Ellefson rejoined in 2010 prior to the album "Th1rt3en" and remained in the MEGADETH lineup until 2021, when he was fired.

In addition to Mustaine, MEGADETH's current lineup includes drummer Dirk Verbeuren, bassist James LoMenzo and Mäntysaari.

Photo credit: Ross Halfin