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20 èþí 2025
THE HALO EFFECT Releases Cover Of DANZIG Classic 'How The Gods Kill'
 THE HALO EFFECT, the project featuring five former members of the Swedish metal band IN FLAMES — Jesper Strömblad (guitar),Daniel Svensson (drums),Peter Iwers (bass),Niclas Engelin (guitar) and Mikael Stanne (vocals) — has released a powerful interpretation of DANZIG's iconic track "How The Gods Kill".
THE HALO EFFECT brings a new weight and urgency to the track, which originally appeared on DANZIG's classic 1992 album "Danzig III: How The Gods Kill", while preserving the brooding mystique of the original. With soaring guitar harmonies, thunderous rhythm, and Stanne's commanding vocals, THE HALO EFFECT reinvents the classic through the lens of the Gothenburg sound.
This cover version was handpicked by Stanne, who said: "During my teenage years, the darkness and allure of the early DANZIG albums introduced me to a whole new way of thinking about what rock and metal could be. Glenn's [Danzig] vocals and lyrics were also incredibly influential on this aspiring vocalist/lyricist."
THE HALO EFFECT's second album, "March Of The Unheard", came out in January via Nuclear Blast Records.
Shortly after "March Of The Unheard"'s release, THE HALO EFFECT embarked on its first-ever headline tour in Europe. Industrial outfit and labelmates PAIN were special guest on this tour and to round up this great package, melo-death shooting stars from Finland BLOODRED HOURGLASS joined as support.
In a recent interview with Belgian Jasper, Iwers was asked if he and his THE HALO EFFECT bandmates were thinking at all, prior to the release of the group's debut album, 2022's "Days Of The Lost", about the reaction from IN FLAMES fans, considering that THE HALO EFFECT features five former members of IN FLAMES. He responded: "Well, we were reminded a lot. 'Don't forget that you all played together at one point' or 'you played in this band', and it's, like, we know, but that's not why we started THE HALO EFFECT. We started THE HALO EFFECT because we wanted to play together again, and some of us have never played together, and, obviously, this constellation has never played together. I knew there would be a lot of comparisons and there would be talks about rivalry and stuff like that. And if you know me and you know people around me, you know that there's no such thing as rivalry. I try to get along with everybody, and this is the case with IN FLAMES as well."
He continued: "There's no rivalry; there's no stuff like that. Let's just like get that out of the way. I still run a restaurant with Björn [Gelotte, IN FLAMES guitarist]. We still talk to each other a bunch of times every week and all that stuff. But with that said, when the album was out and that the feedback was so positive, I guess without thinking about it, without having any expectations, kind of like now [as we prepare for the release of the second THE HALO EFFECT album, 'March Of The Unheard'] — the music's done; I'm happy, I'm not nervous. Of course, when the actual response comes, if it's possible, I will always go, 'Ah, thank god.' But at that point, we were just happy because before 'Days Of The Lost' was out, we actually had it ready for about two years. We formed the band just before the pandemic hit, and then we were able to sit in the studio and in the rehearsal spaces and all those places to write music and take our sweet time. And then when we were done and we were ready to release it, we had to wait another year and a half or so before the actual plan could be started. And this time around we had songs that were written along the way and we had to schedule the studio time in a little bit more than before and kind of go in and focus more. But there was no stress. There was nothing like that. So I'm very eager to get the music out there. I'm not nervous. There will be some comparisons, of course, to IN FLAMES, as always, but also to the first record, as it should be. I'm just happy to get the music out. I've gotta say that."
"Days Of The Lost" entered the official chart in Sweden in the summer of 2022 at position No. 1. This was believed to be the first time a debut LP from a metal act had ever topped the chart in Sweden in its first week of release. "Days Of The Lost" also landed at No. 6 in Germany.
Asked in a June 2022 interview with Australia's "Scars And Guitars" podcast if he would agree that "Days Of The Lost" is, in some ways, a "spiritual successor" to "Reroute To Remain", IN FLAMES' sixth album, which came out in 2002, Peter said: "Ooh, interesting. I haven't really thought about it. When you make music, like we do, you tend not to overthink stuff — you just go in and you write music and kind of know that what comes out will sound a certain way because of the style that we are playing and how we are playing and performing our music. So I haven't really thought about it, but maybe — maybe. It was definitely nothing intentional. We just went in. We had a bunch of ideas and we came out with a bunch of songs that happen to sound a certain way. But none of us really overthought it and it was never meant to 'it's gonna sound like this' or 'it's gonna sound like that.' We just [went], 'Let's write this music and see what happens.' And because of, like I said, how we're playing, it will sound a certain way."
Added Daniel: "A lot of people like to analyze music, and, of course, it sounds Gothenburg metal-ish because we all are from that genre and we are some of the people that kind of created it. So, of course, it will sound Gothenburg metal-ish, IN FLAMES-ish. And then which era, I don't know. And as Peter said, we don't really think about how it should sound. This is how we sound today, and with our legacy this is inevitable, that we sound as we do."
Continued Peter: "Obviously, people like to do a lot of comparing between us… It's a difficult topic to discuss because none of us have — even though we've all been in IN FLAMES at some point, none of us have really thought about this as what you're saying. But then a lot of people that we speak to say it. So it's a little hard to take in, as we've been very thorough in just writing music. But I'd say it's a little flattering to hear it."
Photo credit: Linda Florin (courtesy of Nuclear Blast)
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20 èþí 2025
THREE DAYS GRACE Shares New Single 'Dominate' From Upcoming 'Alienation' Album
 Canadian rockers THREE DAYS GRACE have launched arguably their biggest anthem yet with the release of "Dominate" today, across all digital stream platforms. The track is taken from THREE DAYS GRACE's eighth album, "Alienation", which will arrive on August 22 via RCA Records.
For the first time in over a decade, original THREE DAYS GRACE frontman Adam Gontier is back, joining Matt Walst on vocals along with Neil Sanderson (drums),Brad Walst (bass) and Barry Stock (guitars).
Matt Walst states: "This song's about the fire that wakes you up when the world doesn't. The sun doesn't rise or set for you — it just keeps spinning. If you want something, really want it, you've gotta bleed for it. You've gotta be willing to give up everything — sleep, comfort, peace — just to get a shot at being the best. I've lived that. I've felt the weight of proving myself when no one thought I could. But when you've got something to prove and nothing left to lose? That's when you're at your most dangerous."
He continues: "'Dominate' isn't just a word — it's a mindset. You take the hits. You push through the pain. You don't wait — you take what's yours. That's how I see it. That's how I live it. This one's for anyone who's ever been counted out — and came back to own it all."
The twelve tracks on "Alienation" all play a pivotal role in defining this significantly new-but-nostalgic chapter of the band.
Sanderson comments: "'Alienation' is a journey through inner collapse and outward defiance. The songs reflect isolation as a condition of existence, not just circumstance. Some of what we write about — anxiety, addiction, heartbreak, disconnect — are often a different wave of the same storm. And yet buried in all the wreckage is something human — still reaching out."
"Alienation" track listing:
01. Dominate
02. Apologies
03. Mayday
04. Kill Me Fast
05. In Waves
06. Alienation
07. Never Ordinary (ft. Lindsey Stirling)
08. Deathwish
09. Don't Wanna Go Home Tonight
10. In Cold Blood
11. The Power
12. Another Relapse
Last November, THREE DAYS GRACE released "Mayday", the first single since the return of Gontier. A follow-up single, "Apologies", arrived in May.
In an interview with Canada's The Metal Voice, Sanderson stated about how the band's new two-singer arrangement came together: "First and foremost, we're a family. We all grew up together in a small town, and so Matt, who came in 2013 to replace Adam, he's been in the band for, yeah, 12 years now. But he's Brad, our bass player's younger brother. So he was around as a kid when we were first just jamming in basements and trying to figure out our sound as we were teenagers, and he wasn't even a teenager. And so for him to come in was just a very natural fit. And then, as time progressed on, we just started having open conversations, which is the notion of, like, what would this be if we joined forces and we become a five-piece? And it creates a completely new dimension and facet for the sound of THREE DAYS GRACE and our ability to artistically branch off into just different things that we can do with having two voices that are uniquely different, but come together in such a powerful way. So it feels like we've kind of come full circle and we've closed this loop. And it's just fate, I guess, that we're all seeing eye to eye now and the band sounds bigger than ever. And, yeah, it's a great time to just see it all come into one full force moving forward."
Regarding the musical direction of the upcoming THREE DAYS GRACE album and how "Mayday" fits into that, Neil said: "It's definitely dynamic. 'Mayday' was a song that we — I guess we were pulling some inspiration from our [2006] record 'One-X' with songs like 'Animal I Have Become' and things like that, where it's a really driving-force song. The lyrics are really a social commentary about how sometimes you feel in life that you're like hurling at just warp speed through time and space and you don't quite know who's at the wheel… It feels like everything can be in fast forward and sensory overload, which isn't always healthy for the human brain. And basically just making the decision whether you're gonna swim against the current or whether you're gonna fall in line with other people, and making those choices on a daily basis. So that's what that song's about. The rest of the record, we have a lot of really heavy moments. We do love sort of down tempo heaviness. I mean, we listen to a lot of PANTERA and stuff like that, and that is contrasted with some songs that I think are really going to bring out the emotion, because they're emotional to us. And I think that's the strongest connection with THREE DAYS GRACE and our fans, is that we're writing from the heart and from the gut and deep down in the psyche and putting it out into song. And when people can relate to that and see their own lives in that music, then that's the most powerful thing you can have as an artist. So there's a lot of that where we stay true to ourselves and we're not afraid to write about the real deep down stuff. And that seems to always resonate with our fans because it's coming from a real place."
THREE DAYS GRACE played its first full show with Gontier in 12 years on February 25 as the support act for DISTURBED on the U.S. leg of "The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour" at Ford Idaho Center Arena in Nampa, Idaho.
In a recent interview with Nik Nocturnal, Adam was asked how it feels to be back in THREE DAYS GRACE after such a long absence. He responded: "Well, I think more excitement than anything, man. 'Cause it's just been so long. And it just felt like the right time — it felt like the right time for everybody. So, yeah, just excitement and kind of ready to go."
He continued: "It took a little while to connect with the guys and do a couple shows together, a couple things, but, yeah — just more excitement than anything, and definitely some nostalgia, obviously. But, yeah, I think everybody's really, really excited about this next chapter. It's gonna be quite the year, I think."
Regarding the prospect of sharing lead vocals with Matt in THREE DAYS GRACE's new lineup, Adam said: "Yeah, I was just talking with somebody about that. We got sort of — not lucky, but our voices do blend really well together. And we've noticed it obviously way more now with making the record and recording and all this stuff that, yeah, our voices really blend well. Yeah, so we're fortunate for that, that it's working out the way we had hoped."
Gontier added: "It's been great, man. It's cool. Matt grew up with the band. He's Brad's little brother, and I knew Matt from when he was just a little guy. So I think for them it was a natural fit to get him to take my spot there. And, yeah, now [we're just, like] — let's do it together."
Asked how he and Matt delegate the vocal responsibilities on THREE DAYS GRACE's new material, including "Mayday", Adam said: "Yeah, that's what we've been doing. I mean, we're all sort of writing the new stuff together, so we've been sitting in a room together, coming up with all this material and stuff… We're in a room together and coming up with all that stuff… But yeah, I think the recording of vocals, who's gonna sing what and where, it's come pretty natural. There's certain parts that we both now know, like, 'It might make more sense for me to sing this part or you to sing this part.' And at the same time, working with a couple of different producers on stuff, we did get some guys that would have some good input and just a good idea of what to do with two singers, 'cause it hasn't really been done before — not in this world. So we wanna make sure we're doing it right. So getting an outside point of view from a producer or something to put his two cents on where the guys should go and that sort of thing, that's helped out a lot too. But, yeah, in general, it's been pretty seamless. The whole thing has been really easy to navigate through."
"Mayday" was produced by Zakk Cervini and Dan Lancaster with vocal production by Howard Benson. In addition, the band released an epic CiRCUS HEaD-directed visual to accompany the track which can be found below.
In a December 2024 interview with "Whiplash", the KLOS radio show hosted by Full Metal Jackie, Adam was asked if "Mayday" is a good representation of the material that would appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's next studio album. He responded: "I think it's pretty close. I think it was pretty important for us to sort of get some elements in these songs that were super classic THREE DAYS GRACE with some newer elements as well. So I think 'Mayday' is a good representation of that. It's a pretty heavy song, but it's got everything else that we wanted to have in there. So, yeah, I think it's pretty close."
Asked if there was ever any doubt "Mayday" would be the first song to introduce this iteration of the band, Matt said: "We found with 'Mayday' — we listened to, obviously, our ideas and our songs a lot, and with 'Mayday', we kind of all found we never got sick of it. Personally, too, I listened to it over and over again, and I didn't get sick of it. And it takes you on this kind of journey throughout it, and it's not super predictable. And, yeah, [we] just found it was fresh."
Matt also talked about how the idea for having two singers in THREE DAYS GRACE came about. He said: "I think one day I just talked to my brother Brad about it and was, like, 'It'd be sick if Adam came back. And we could both sing, and I can sing the songs of the past 10 years and Adam can even sing a few of those too.' And yeah, it just seems like a new life to breathe into THREE DAYS GRACE and to make it exciting, like the early days or just to freshen it up and, yeah, make it exciting."
In a separate interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station, Neil stated about Adam's return to THREE DAYS GRACE: "We had been talking and we've kept in touch. And the band was just talking about, like, how great would this be for us and for the fans and for the nostalgia of THREE DAYS GRACE. And then he got up on stage with us [for a guest appearance], and then we just thought, 'Let's make something new. Let's sit down and write a song.' And once we kind of got into that songwriting process, it just felt really natural and it felt right. And I think for the fans, we're giving them something that we haven't done before and hasn't really been done much in the past."
On the topic of the "Mayday" video, Neil said: "It was a really fun video to make. It was kind of especially cool for me because very rarely as a drummer do you get to make a video where you don't have to fake playing drums all day. [Laughs] And so, yeah, complete melee goes on on the plane. And it's kind of an analogy to just feeling like we're hurling through life at warp speed, and sometimes it doesn't feel like there is a pilot that's in control of things. But it's also a bit of a celebration, like, 'Hey, if we're going down, we're all going down together.'"
In April 2023, Gontier reunited with THREE DAYS GRACE onstage during the band's concert in Huntsville, Alabama. Gontier rejoined his former bandmates when they opened for SHINEDOWN at the Probst Arena At The Von Braun Center to perform two classic songs from THREE DAYS GRACE's 2006 album "One-X": "Never Too Late" and "Riot".
THREE DAYS GRACE later shared a post-performance photo with Gontier on social media and wrote in an accompanying message: "Soooo we did a thing."
In 1992, Gontier, Brad Walst, Phil Crowe, Neil Sanderson and Joe Grant formed GROUNDSWELL while most of the members were still in high school. That band broke up in 1995, but two years later Gontier, Sanderson and Walst reformed as THREE DAYS GRACE. Gontier left the band in 2013 and was replaced by Matt, the vocalist from another Norwood band, MY DARKEST DAYS.
Gontier initially went into rehab in 2005 in Toronto after admitting an addiction to Oxycontin. The rehab stint influenced some material which would appear on THREE DAYS GRACE's "One-X" album, including the songs "Pain" and "Over And Over".
Gontier left THREE DAYS GRACE in the spring of 2013. At the time, the Canadian rockers cited unspecified "health issues" when his departure was announced. Adam later released a statement explaining he exited THREE DAYS GRACE to pursue new projects, and not to deal with addiction.
Gontier is currently a member of SAINT ASONIA, which also features STAIND guitarist/founding member Mike Mushok. The quartet is rounded out by Cale Gontier (bass) and Cody Watkins (drums).
Photo credit: Matt Barnes
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20 èþí 2025
HELLOWEEN's ANDI DERIS 'Did Not Feel Any Pressure' Making 'Giants & Monsters' Album: 'We Proved Ourselves On The Previous' LP
 HELLOWEEN vocalist Andi Deris spoke to Finland's Chaoszine about the band's upcoming album, "Giants & Monsters", which will be released on August 29 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The follow-up to HELLOWEEN's self-titled record was mixed at the legendary Wisseloord Studios (IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, DEF LEPPARD) in Hilversum, Netherlands. Asked if he and his bandmates felt any pressure making "Giants & Monsters", Andi said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "So, for the last album, yes. For this album, me personally, I did not feel any pressure because I think we proved ourselves, if there was anything we could prove, on the previous album. So that was probably the most anticipated thing. Would the boys fuck up or would it be a good album? I think it was a good album. Because in several countries it went Number One does not mean especially that it's a good album. But people weren't super nosy and bought it anyway. [Laughs] No, I personally did not feel any pressure for this upcoming album."
When the interviewer noted that it was probably a "more relaxed" process this time around, Andi clarified: "I wouldn't say relaxed, but this pressure was not on the shoulders to prove something. So, that was proven already. And so it was just back to the hobby — write songs, have fun with it, and I think that's a recipe for a good album, if you ask me."
Asked if all the touring HELLOWEEN had done in support of the self-titled effort had somehow affected the sound of the new songs, Andi said: "In my case, maybe, because we talked about that a few hours ago, and I thought, it's very interesting because there was this question, how do you come up with the ideas? And they were like pretty tricked about the 'Giants & Monsters' theme, which sounds a bit comic but at the end of the day is very deep, because we're talking about the giants we could be and the monsters we have to fight against in our lives again and again and again.
"The new album, I think, is so much more hobby-driven," Deris continued. "At least I was reminded at my very early days when I started out as a songwriter and just did it because I loved to do it and I did not even know if there's somebody who would ever listen to it because I recorded it on a tape, like these little cassette tapes back in the days. And so I had two tape players, and when you recorded on that one, you had to sing or play your guitar on to that, and again back, you could take another sound or another guitar or another instrument. So at the end of the day, you had to cross it six, seven times and the quality was horrible and made a lot of noise, but somewhere you heard the music. [Laughs] And I was so proud, because I finished my first song. It was still my first song, even though it was noisy and bad quality, but I never forget that feeling of having done my first song. The only guy who ever listened to it was myself. I was proud of myself, loved what I did, and I wanted to have it again and again and again and again. That's something that came back for this production for me. Because I knew nobody's forcing me to write in a lot of songs, because [there are] lots of boys here who can write great songs. So I was just happy to be without responsibility."
The official music video for "This Is Tokyo", which is the first single from "Giants & Monsters", can be seen below. The powerful four-minute anthem features vocalists Deris and Michael Kiske.
The song holds personal significance for Deris, who previously said: "I've always wanted to write this song. Japan plays a special role in my life because I had my first big successes there. I wanted to create a tribute to Japan for a while now and finally found the right lyrics. Because 'Tokyo' sounds better than 'Japan,' the city stands for a whole country that is very important to me."
HELLOWEEN will celebrate four decades of metal mastery with a global 40th anniversary tour. The European leg begins in mid-October, with initial dates selling out quickly and additional shows in Madrid and Bochum already on sale. Featuring an ultimate set list packed with surprises, the tour will showcase the band's unparalleled legacy and ongoing creative power.
"Giants & Monsters" pushes the boundaries of HELLOWEEN's sound, thanks to the instincts of producers Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, as well as the band's relentless pursuit of excellence. Per example, drummer Dani Löble recorded all tracks using three different drum kits to capture the perfect vibe for each song, a testament to their attention to detail and love of experimentation.
The band's chemistry continues to drive their success. "What keeps motivating us is the fact that we're extremely different. It generates creative energy," said guitarist Michael Weikath. Guitarist/vocalist Kai Hansen added: "We try not to take ourselves and everything around us too seriously." Deris summed it up: "In the end, we're just seven guys who want to make music and enjoy the incomparable force that arises when we're together. HELLOWEEN is way more powerful than the sum of its parts."
"Giants & Monsters" track listing:
01. Giants On The Run
02. Saviour Of The World
03. A Little Is A Little Too Much
04. We Can Be Gods
05. Into The Sun
06. This Is Tokyo
07. Universe (Gravity For Hearts)
08. Hand Of God
09. Under The Moonlight
10. Majestic
In a recent interview with Hakos Pervanidis of the Metal Hammer Greece TV program TV War, Deris and Hansen were asked if they would agree that "Giants & Monsters" sounds "more focused and direct" than 2021's self-titled effort. Hansen said: "Yeah, I would agree. I mean, we have diversity, but we've grown together as HELLOWEEN and the individual members, so you could hear the differences between the songs and the songwriters still, but there's a straight red line. And we're more connected now."
Deris chimed in: "So far I'm happy to say that there were lots of little things being put into your song by the other guys, which was much easier this time. Honestly, we had so much more time, actually, so everybody had tons of time to listen to each and everybody's tracks and come up with own ideas. Kai, for example, he added I would say a whole new song into my song. 'Giants On The Run', the whole middle part is a new song which Kai put in, and it's just perfect; it fits. That's something I love and I always wanted to have, but, honestly, back in the day, like [on] the [previous] album, everybody was minding his own business. You have to write super songs for the new upcoming album and the expectations are so high because Michael [Kiske, HELLOWEEN singer] and Kai are back. And so there was no mindset to actually put your shit into the other songs and vice versa. And this time it just played out easily because the pressure was gone. I think when you just had such a successful album, it takes away so much pressure because you know you were on the right track. So play with it. Don't stress it. Just play with it. And that was a lot of fun."
Regarding the "Giants & Monsters" album title, Deris said: "The first title says it all. It's 'Giants On The Run', and it talks about us as mankind. We are actually giants. We are gods inside. But then you could come up with a conspiracy theory. Are we on purpose, purposely put down that the god side, that giant thing that we all have inside, is not allowed to express itself or to come out? But at the end of the day, everybody, each and every individual I know, they are much bigger inside with their dreams, with their possibilities they would like to have, than they're actually allowed to have or allowed to be in our society. And there you could come up with that conspiracy theory. Are we held down on purpose? I personally think when I listen to my inside, I know everybody from the band and all my friends I know, they're so much bigger inside. They're great, great people. And they have great ideas, but in our world, you're not allowed to express it."
Kai added: "It takes all efforts. You have to fight the monsters. That's the point. And I think the title leaves a lot room a for interpretation. You could say the giants is your great ideas that you might have, your aims, your goals. But then here come the monsters, the demons you have to fight and everyday struggle. Then you could go to the Anunnaki, the return of the gods from outer space, giant people and so on. There's a lot of room for fantasy, I think."
Andi continued: "But I just went back also to the Bible. I said, 'Okay, look, it's even written in the Bible.' There were giants walking on earth, and who says that the giants are not still here in ourselves? I mean, we are still the giants, and as Kai said, you constantly have to fight the demons, the monsters in your life. And I thought that's a super metaphor. And I think everybody knows what I'm talking about because sometimes when you're with yourself thinking about yourself, your own life, you realize you would be much more if only you are allowed to be."
Asked if HELLOWEEN purposely approached songwriting this time around in a way where the vocals and the first chorus come in very early in each song, Andi said: "Yes and no. I mean, honestly, if it would destroy the song, I'd rather not, me personally. I think everybody in the band would agree, because if the song yells for it and shouts for it — keep it short; otherwise it's getting boring — then I keep it short.
Hansen added: "It's good to have that on the commercial tracks, all the — how do you say it? — the hit singles. It's very hard. Personally, I don't mind if it takes longer to go into the chorus if it makes sense for a song. So there is no general thought or rule when you approach songwriting to say, 'Oh, no, the chorus has to come after one minute or so.'"
Deris continued: "If we talk about looking what the commercial side would be, and back in the days, I remember you've been forced by the record company to put it short into maximum three-minute songs because otherwise it couldn't be a single. Fuck it. I mean, honestly, no. If I have to keep it short, then probably, because I'm a stubborn asshole, I would do the opposite. But nobody tells me what to do, so I just personally write the way I feel. But then again, it's very important, when we have guys in the band who say, 'This is a great song, and I could hear it even better when we not keep it that short.' For example, 'Giants On The Run'. [Kai's] part is at least three minutes and stretches the song to eight minutes something, which used to be something like round five minutes, and it's totally worth it. But if it's not worth it, why would you? That was another question: 'Do you always have to write these long songs?' And Kai said, 'No.' It's just what it is. When you're in the process of songwriting and it yells for another part and here's an idea, and yeah, I could do this lyrics, so I need another part, otherwise the story is not round, and maybe you end up with 10 or 12 minutes."
Hansen added: "And it's fun to do those long songs. To me, it's fun. It's a kind of challenge, but I don't do it on purpose to say, 'I need a long song.' It's just if the song gives it to you, then you do it."
Deris explained: "And if the story is two sheets of paper. You can't possibly put all the lyrics in a three-minute song; that's not possible. So then you've got different feelings depending on the lyrics itself. Suddenly there's a romantic section, for example. Ah, yeah, definitely you have to go down and do something romantic around it arrangement-wise. You probably cannot go all metally with that romantic thing. And so it cries, it, it yells, it shouts for another part."
On the topic of how they balance fans' expectations with being creative and trying new things with their music, Hansen said: "It's a challenge and it's always like a walk on the edge. Because if you consider that you want people to be pleased with what you're doing, but on the other hand, when you do your thing, you should not consider that. You should not write with that purpose in mind, because, first of all, you have to be a fan of what you're doing. To me, it's a very egoistic process. I write for myself, and I want to be a fan of what I'm doing. And then I'm glad if other people think so too."
Deris added: "Yeah, that's my way too. I don't wanna say I don't give a fuck, but when you are writing, there should be nothing in the back of your mind. It's just you and your music. And as Kai said, if you goosebump goes up, it's great for yourself, first of all. And then when you finish the song, on the second thought or second guess would be, 'Would they like it out there?' But during the songwriting process, it's not important. You are important because you have to actually give your thoughts, your feelings into whatever you do in the very moment. And yes, sometimes it's not good enough that the people would say, 'Yeah, I love it.' But I always say that the possibility that I am completely happy with my song and my goosebump goes up, considering myself a super-normal guy, so when I say I love it, my goosebumps go up, because I consider myself a mediocre guy, I would say the normal person out there would feel the same [as] I do. That's what I always hope."
Hansen continued: "You develop a feeling. I mean, when you write a song, and you trust yourself, if you like it, then there will be a lot of others that would like it too."
Deris concurred, saying: "No guarantee, but that's the way to work."
"Helloween" was the first HELLOWEEN album to feature the band's expanded lineup, consisting of returning singer Michael Kiske and Hansen along with Deris, guitarists Michael Weikath and Sascha Gerstner, bassist Markus Grosskopf and drummer Daniel Löble.
Upon its release in June 2021, "Helloween" landed in the Top 10 in more than 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria. The cover artwork for the LP was painted by artist Eliran Kantor, who has previously worked with HATEBREED, SOULFLY, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH and SODOM, among others.
Produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and Dennis Ward, the last HELLOWEEN LP was recorded in part at the H.O.M.E. Studios in Hamburg (where everything started in 1984). The same recording console used for such HELLOWEEN albums as "Master Of The Rings", "Time Of The Oath" and "Better Than Raw" was utilized to record the band's new material. The effort was mixed at the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (IRON MAIDEN, DEF LEPPARD, RAMMSTEIN).
"Helloween" saw the legendary German power metallers going "back to the roots," with the band recording fully analog and Löble playing the drum kit previously used by HELLOWEEN's original drummer, the late Ingo Schwichtenberg, on the legendary "Keeper Of The Seven Keys" recordings.
HELLOWEEN released a new live album, "Live At Budokan", on December 13, 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music (RPM). The colossal effort immortalized HELLOWEEN's September 16, 2023 performance at Tokyo's legendary Nippon Budokan.
"Live At Budokan" was made available in a plethora of formats: 2CD-digipak and 3LP vinyl in trifold with the first print run of both coming as "deluxe edition" including embossed cover artwork, as well as Blu-ray, DVD and digital. Each version is meticulously crafted to suit the metal community's diverse tastes, ensuring every fan can relive the raw, unfiltered energy of HELLOWEEN in their preferred medium.
This release celebrated the grand finale of HELLOWEEN's epic world tour from 2022 to 2023. Spanning over 30 countries on three continents, the tour was nothing short of a triumph, drawing massive crowds and showcasing the band's undying appeal, the sold-out concert in Tokyo is the crowning glory of the cycle.
HELLOWEEN is:
Michael Kiske - vocals
Andi Deris - vocals
Kai Hansen - guitars, vocals
Michael Weikath - guitars
Sascha Gerstner - guitars
Markus Grosskopf - bass
Daniel Löble - drums
Photo credit: Mathias Bothor
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AMY LEE On EVANESCENCE's Current Lineup: 'We Feel Complete At This Point'
 In a new interview with Ned of Iowa's Rock 108 radio station, EVANESCENCE singer Amy Lee spoke about the band's current lineup, which features Emma Anzai of SICK PUPPIES on bass and EVANESCENCE's longtime bassist Tim McCord on guitar. Regarding how Emma came to join EVANESCENCE, Amy said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I have been her fan for a million years. We really got to know each other in 2007. We've known each other forever. We toured together back then on the same tour. [SICK PUPPIES] were opening for us, and we really hung out and really made friends on a deeper level, especially back then. But still, women in heavy music are a pretty tight-knit group, 'cause there aren't that many of us still. There's more and more and more, which is amazing, but especially back then, it was just this rare bird to see in the wild and be, like, 'Hey, come here. You're one of me. Can we talk for a second?' So me and Emma became friends right away."
Amy continued: "She's extremely talented, extremely professional. She is in it for playing the bass. [She's an] incredible stage performer. Everything about her — I just love Emma. And we talked over the years about, 'Wouldn't it be cool to have a side band?' just with all the chicks, the whole thing. And that never worked out, but I just always wanted to work together. And we were finally in a position where it was, like, we needed somebody. And I called her first. I was, like, 'Hey.' Well, first of all, I was, like, 'Would you play guitar?' And she's, like, 'No. I'm a bass player.' And I spoke to Tim, and he was, like, 'Oh my God. This is what I want. I've been wanting to switch it up. Guitar is my original instrument. This is perfect. I need a change. And nobody's better than Emma. And I would be very critical of any bass player after playing bass in this band for that many years.' So it was just a very came-together-perfectly moment. And we've all just felt blessed by her presence. I have a real, a true sister in the band. It's been great. We're a good team. And Emma kicks ass. So that has been a huge bonus for us. We feel complete at this point."
Back in 2023, Emma told Bass Magazine about how she landed the gig with EVANESCENCE: "It was quite the surprise when it happened. When they needed a bass player after Tim switched from bass to guitar, I got the call and agreed to join them. SICK PUPPIES had toured with them long ago for one of our first tours, and I remember Amy being super cool. She's still the same now with support bands, the crews, and everyone she comes in contact with. I always remember that, because it was 13 or 14 years ago, and the women-in-music thing was different back then; we used to have conversations about it all the time. It's funny because it's evolved a little now, but we still currently have conversations about it. Being a woman — especially with me touring with all guys and having no other women around back then — it was great sharing our experiences and having her to hang around with. I was a lot younger, and I like to think I've learned a lot since then and grown a bit. At the time I was a little naïve, but she was helpful in solidifying what I had already felt. It's nice to come full circle and share these new experiences together. She's been such an anchor for me for so many years."
Guitarist Jen Majura's departure from EVANESCENCE was announced in May 2022 via social media. At the time, the band said in a statement: "It has been a very special chapter in the band with our dear friend Jen Majura, but we have decided it's time to go our separate ways."
A month later, Jen spoke about her split with EVANESCENCE during an appearance on THE HAUNTED guitarist Ola Englund's YouTube show "Coffee With Ola". At the time, she said that she was still "hurt" by the move and compared the situation to a divorce.
"I believe, honestly, it's three weeks now since I got the news, and I'm still in this blurry, oblivious momentum," she said. "I guess I'm still in shock, kind of, because after being married six years, all of a sudden you're divorced. You know me, I always try to find the positive in a situation, so every day, step by step — I'm not doing great yet — but every day I find little tiny things that I'm, like, 'Oh, actually, this is good.'"
Asked how she found out that her services were no longer needed in EVANESCENCE, Jen said: "Honestly, I was cleaning my apartment, and I got the phone call. And first of all, I was, like, 'Is this a bad joke?' And I remember, after I got the news, I hung up, and I have this hallway in between my studio and my living room, and I just lay there on the floor, staring at the ceiling, wondering what that was, and literally looking over to my suitcase that I had already started packing, because I was two weeks from going out on the road until pretty much the end of the year."
Earlier this month, EVANESCENCE and alt-rock visionary K.Flay teamed up for their first-ever collaboration on the new song "Fight Like A Girl" (BMG). The track is featured as the first end title song in "Ballerina", the film set in the world of John Wick. Both the song and the film were released on June 6.
Co-written by EVANESCENCE lead singer Amy Lee, K.Flay, Dylan Eiland and "Ballerina" film composer Tyler Bates, who also produced the track, "Fight Like A Girl" follows the release of Halsey and Lee's track "Hand That Feeds", the first original song recently revealed from the film in early May.
EVANESCENCE will kick off a run of live shows later this fall, making stops on "My Chemical Romance: The Black Parade" tour and Louder Than Life festival before joining METALLICA on their "M72" world tour.
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 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.
Photo credit: Travis Shinn
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AVENGED SEVENFOLD's M. SHADOWS On Constantly Challenging Fans With New Projects: 'When I Wake Up In The Morning, I Wanna Be Excited'
 AVENGED SEVENFOLD frontman M. Shadows is featured in the latest episode of Fire With Fire, a new video series where Ryan J. Downey sits down with artists in the heavy music space for wide-ranging, in-depth conversations, where the importance of freedom of expression is the anchor. Created by Downey, the series is made in partnership with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and directed by Gus Black.
Asked where the drive for him and his AVENGED SEVENFOLD bandmates comes from to "refuse to be boring" and to constantly challenge their fans and listeners with their art, M. Shadows said in part (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't know where it comes from. It's just something that you can't really tap in to. I just know that when I wake up in the morning, I wanna be excited. I wanna get up and work on something that I wanna work on, and then I wanna show the world. I think [where AVENGED SEVENFOLD's 2016 album] 'The Stage' was, we were talking about themes that literally weren't even relevant till now. We were talking about A.I., nanotechnology, we were talking about the Big Bang and Fermi paradox and exploration. We were talking about all these things that literally just went [over people's heads] when it came out. And now everyone's, like, 'Oh my God. You guys were…' But I think that comes down to us being kind of on the cutting edge of what we felt was happening, a groundswell, and it inspired us to write about it. And then it just takes some time. The same way that I think when we do a VR concert in 2023, or whatever it is, and it might be till 2030 that everyone's doing these, but ours will still be there to go back to.
"These things aren't going away and they're extremely compelling and they're new mediums to really explore," the singer continued. "I was explaining this to somebody the other day, like, the way we've thought about music is so westernized… Think about THE BEATLES sitting there, and they had these two stereo speakers, and everyone started messing around with drums over here, and Paul's [McCartney] gonna be over here and then [John] Lennon's gonna come over and then we're gonna put the vocals all over here. And they're messing with two speakers. Now we've got Atmos, we've got VR, we've got Surround Sound, we've got all these things. And we were talking about this at the VR thing — what gets written? How does music overlay itself into all these new technologies? 'Cause we're not sitting there staring at two speakers anymore. And as that changes, the art is gonna change. The art changed with THE BEATLES because of stereo, because there was now an option to do wacky things, right? And then we've just lived with that for 40, 50 years, and that's what we do. But things are gonna change. Spotify's not gonna be here forever. There'll be something different.
"Technology's moving so fast right now that things, before they can even mature, they're already over, because the next thing's happening," M. Shadows added. "The exponential growth that we were talking about in paradigm is just happening at an alarming rate. And so we just like kind of keeping our eyes on the edge. When something just gets our bodies going, 'Yeah, that's fucking rad,' then we go do it. And we do it and we put it out and we don't worry about it. Now we're on to the next thing. 'Cause while you're digesting that and worrying about what [AVENGED SEVENFOLD's latest album, 2023's] 'Life Is But A Dream...' is, we're completely somewhere else at this point. My brain right now is just somewhere way far away from that record. But there's still people coming into that record right now and going, 'I get it now. I get it.'"
Ryan J. Downey is a longtime journalist whose credits include work with Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and Marvel. He has written books, graphic novels, and liner notes for BLACK VEIL BRIDES, FALLING IN REVERSE, ICE NINE KILLS, ALICE IN CHAINS, PANTERA, TYPE O NEGATIVE, and more. He is the host of the MI Conversation Series at Hollywood's Musicians Institute, a former MTV News reporter, and served as senior editor for Alternative Press.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization whose mission is to defend and sustain individual rights to free speech, expression, and thought through a unique mix of public education campaigns, individual case advocacy, and policy reform efforts.
"Life Is But A Dream…" was written and recorded over the span of four years. It was produced by Joe Barresi and AVENGED SEVENFOLD in Los Angeles and mixed by Andy Wallace in the Poconos, Pennsylvania. The album is a journey through an existential crisis; a very personal exploration into the meaning, purpose and value of human existence with the anxiety of death always looming.
"Life Is But A Dream…" sold 36,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first week of release to land at position No. 13 on the Billboard 200 chart. AVENGED SEVENFOLD's previous LP, the aforementioned "The Stage", debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 album chart in November 2016. The surprise release of "The Stage" earned the lowest sales of an AVENGED SEVENFOLD album in eleven years. It sold 76,000 copies in its first week, less than half the tally of its previous two efforts.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD made its first festival appearance in five years on May 19, 2023 at Welcome To Rockville at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The band's setlist included three songs from "Life Is But A Dream…": "Game Over", "We Love You" and "Nobody".
AVENGED SEVENFOLD's first concert since June 2018 took place on May 12 at AREA15 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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SILVERSTEIN Shares Music Video For 'Drain The Blood' Featuring DAYSEEKER's RORY RODRIGUEZ
 SILVERSTEIN unleashes one of their most ambitious singles yet with "Drain The Blood", featuring Rory Rodriguez of DAYSEEKER. Out now via UNFD, the track arrives alongside a gripping new video, which can be seen below.
SILVERSTEIN guitarist Paul Marc Rousseau comments: "Each time I start making an album I have a self-imposed rule: I can't abandon my first idea. Whatever I start on day one, I have to finish. Usually the song ends up in the trash, but this time it was 'Drain The Blood', which is my favorite song of the entire project — maybe our entire career.
"The premise of the song is very simple: keep your A.I. out of my art. I wanted every part of the song to feel unexpected and a little out of context. Irrational and human. Like, an A.I. would have never made these choices. The lyrics are irreverent and over-dramatic, but only time will tell if they're completely science fiction."
He continues: "My favorite moment of the song is when Rory enters with 'Can I be honest now? I don't see a way we get beyond this hell.' The line just feels so right with him singing it. It's like he's the voice of reason and even he feels defeated by technology. He almost goes through the five stages of grief and recaps the whole concept in 20 seconds."
SILVERSTEIN frontman Shane Told adds: "'Drain The Blood' is our response to the growing fear that machines are starting to replace what makes music (and other art) human. It's a warning, a cry of resistance, and a reminder that emotion can't be automated. We wanted the video to reflect that, so Rory and I got together in L.A. to shoot it in this strange, creepy studio that felt like something out of 'Severance' or 'Black Mirror'. Then we took it to the L.A. River, channeling the gritty, dystopian energy of 'Terminator 2'. It felt like we were capturing some of the scariest possibilities of the future — the kind where creativity gets stripped of its humanity. Rory brought such a raw energy to the track and the shoot. It made the whole vision come alive."
The result is one of SILVERSTEIN's most visually striking videos to date — equal parts cinematic and unsettling.
"Drain The Blood" marks the second single from SILVERSTEIN's forthcoming album "Pink Moon", the second chapter in their ambitious 16-song double album. Conceived and recorded during a transformative stretch in the high desert of Joshua Tree, the album is set to be released on September 12 via UNFD.
Born from the same sessions as "Antibloom", the songs on "Pink Moon" were sequenced with intention, offering a distinct yet complementary listening experience. Known for their meticulous attention to flow and emotional pacing, the band crafted both halves to stand on their own while also telling a broader, interconnected story — one that ebbs and crashes like the desert winds that shaped it.
"Pink Moon" features the only guest appearances on the project, with stunning contributions from Rodriguez and Cassadee Pope — voices chosen mid-process when the band sensed the need to push certain songs into new sonic territory. The result is a bold and diverse body of work that expands SILVERSTEIN's dynamic range while staying true to their emotional core. By releasing the project in two halves, the band has given every song the room to breathe, resonate, and evolve. The moon has risen. The story continues.
This year, fans around the world are invited to join silverstein in celebrating their silver anniversary with the "25 Years Of Noise" tour. These shows offer a discography-spanning performance and give fans the chance to vote on their favorite songs from each record to help shape the setlist. The band recently wrapped up initial legs in North America and Europe alongside THURSDAY, THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS, ARM'S LENGTH, SPLIT CHAIN, REAL FRIENDS, BROADSIDE and GREYHAVEN, including a recent performance at Vans Warped Tour in Washington, D.C.
They'll bring the show to Australia this summer with REAL FRIENDS, and perform at the Long Beach date of the Vans Warped Tour. SILVERSTEIN also announced that they'll conclude the "25 Years Of Noise" tour with a final show in Brooklyn on December 20 featuring support from THURSDAY, THE MOVIELIFE, FREE THROW and BLOOM.
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MARTY FRIEDMAN: 'I Take Advice From Anyone Who I Respect What They're Doing'
 In a new interview with Mexico's Loud! Metal Radio, former MEGADETH guitarist Marty Friedman was asked what piece of advice he would give to young musicians looking to break into the business. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "The first thing is very important, is you have to remember, you don't have to know everything. A lot of young musicians think that I know everything, or their favorite guitarist knows how to play everything, or all the professional guitar players, they know everything, but it's not true, and it's not necessary. All you need to know is how to do what you love. That's it. I don't know much about jazz music. If I play it, I don't play it very well. I can't play like any other guitar players. I don't know how to play like this guy or that guy. As soon as you realize, 'Hey, I don't need to play like that. I don't need to play like my guitar teacher. I don't need to play like somebody else. All I need to do is get good at what I can do.' Concentrate on yourself. Don't worry about the others. You don't have to be better than someone else. Don't compare yourself. Stay kind of in your own world and focus on learning what you love about music. That's my advice."
Asked if he learned more as a musician from studying and playing in a room by himself for hours or by playing live in front of people, Marty said: "Definitely, definitely playing live. I've almost never sat in a room and practiced or studied. That sounds crazy, and people get angry when I say that, but it's kind of true. I started playing live when I was about 14. I was terrible. I didn't really know how to play, but I was playing in front of people in a band, and I always did that.
"Playing in front of people, it speeds up the learning process, because it's natural, when you play in front of people, [that] you don't wanna make a mistake," he explained. "You don't wanna play badly. But alone in a room, nobody sees, nobody cares. Your body is relaxed. But when you do something live, after you finish that show, your mind goes over every little detail: 'What did I do wrong? Where did I make a mistake? Why didn't I hear this?' It's working so much harder than practicing in your bedroom.
"So I've always played live or created an opportunity to play in front of people, whether it be recording, rehearsing, playing a concert, jamming in front of somebody," Friedman added. "If you play in front of people, that's where you get the fast results. Playing by yourself, maybe your hands start to work good, but nothing sticks to you as well as when you're playing in front of people."
Regarding how he chooses which people to take advice from, Marty said: "I take advice from anyone who I respect what they're doing. If I have someone who plays music that I like, I'm gonna listen to what they say. And maybe it doesn't fit me, maybe it does, but one thing for sure is I can't control whether people like my music or not. So, it doesn't matter if someone doesn't like what I'm doing — if I like it. If I don't like what I'm doing, then I'm kind of lost. So I try to make sure that I only work on things that I'm gonna like."
Friedman's June 13 concert at Teatro Cariola in Santiago, Chile was professionally recorded and filmed for a future live album and DVD.
As previously reported, Marty will follow the print release of his compelling autobiography last December, "Dreaming Japanese", with an audiobook version via Recorded Books on June 24. The audiobook release is available to pre-order now across all digital platforms via Amazon.
Written with veteran music journalist Jon Wiederhorn ("Louder Than Hell", "Raising Hell"),"Dreaming Japanese" debuted at No. 1 on Amazon's Heavy Metal Books chart and has received praise from major outlets including Rolling Stone, Guitar World, Decibel and Publishers Marketplace. The autobiography shares Friedman's inspiring journey from landing a gig as the lead guitarist for legendary thrash metal outfit MEGADETH during their peak years to his emigration from the U.S. to Japan, where he became a prominent television figure and Japanese pop culture household name as well as being appointed an official Ambassador Of Japan Heritage.
The "Dreaming Japanese" audiobook delivers Friedman's story with verve with a riveting narrative that captures his relentless perseverance as he struggled to start again from nothing. After spontaneously leaving his home in the U.S., to feeling lost in the middle of Tokyo with few connections or concrete plans, the story traces his journey to acclimate and assimilate into the inner core of an alien society, language and culture. In fascinating detail and clarity, Friedman shares how he gradually made inroads into the Japanese entertainment industry, becoming a household name and fixture on mainstream television and earning respect as a highly influential solo artist. "Dreaming Japanese" follows the wildly entertaining, inspiring, and above all, unprecedented path of a rock and roll guitar player who took the biggest risk: leaving worldwide success to start over from scratch in a country, culture and society far from his own and ultimately becoming an official ambassador of Japan.
From the adrenaline-soaked years touring the world with MEGADETH — where he co-wrote some of the band's most iconic albums like "Rust In Peace" and "Countdown To Extinction" — to his surreal reinvention as a lead guitarist in J-Pop acts and host of over 800 Japanese television shows, "Dreaming Japanese" reveals the wildly entertaining, deeply human, and often hilarious story of a man who risked everything to chase a new dream halfway across the globe.
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PAUL STANLEY On KISS's Original Farewell Tour: 'It Was Very Stressful And Disappointing'
 During an appearance on the latest episode of Billy Corgan's podcast "The Magnificent Others", KISS guitarist/vocalist Paul Stanley reflected on the band's first farewell tour, which took place in 2000-2001 and featured KISS's original lineup, consisting of Stanley, bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons, guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss. "Unfortunately, the same problems just started to creep in," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "In a perfect world, I had hoped that we could get back together. Everybody would learn their life lessons and we'll walk into the sunset together making music. That story doesn't exist. So it was very stressful and disappointing, but more stressful because for me it's all about what goes on on stage. You leave everything at the bottom of the stairs — you leave your problems. There have been times where people in the band might not be talking, but you get up on stage and hug and have a great time and make the most of that. Anything that happens beyond the stage is a bonus. So, it was very stressful, and not knowing how we're gonna be night to night because of people's indulgences. And that's not fun."
Elaborating on how relationships within the band deteriorated to such an extent, Stanley said: "Things take such an incremental turn. I don't think most of the time things fall off a cliff… It just became, sadly, the divide happened, and it wasn't like that when we first got back together. For me, there was a sense of anticipation and a joy in revisiting and coming back together and bringing whatever we had done in the interim. And we had some of the guys going, 'I really fucked up. I'll never do that again. I'm so grateful to be here.' And it truly was the feeling and the sentiment. And over time it became, 'You said you wouldn't do that again. You're doing it.' The resentments that I think were there in the beginning came back. I think that perhaps what bothered people before just bothered them again, and maybe they had a — shall I say — distorted or inaccurate sense of who they were."
Paul continued: "Everybody in the [original] band was so important to creating it. But when you're in a car, only one person can drive. Everybody can be in the same car, but you can't have everybody's hands on the wheel because ultimately people are pulling 'cause they wanna do different things. So it became politics again of, unfortunately, people wanting things sometimes because you wanted something else."
Asked by Corgan if he is the type of performer who is "very much in the moment" while on stage or if he is "inwardly reflecting on what used to be", Paul said: "When I'm on stage, I'm in the moment. And there's nothing ever in my life that could take the place or compete with that. You know that to be in front of 20, 50, a hundred thousand people who are there to see you, it emits such an incredible amount of force and also gratitude and adulation and a positive response and feedback to something you created and that you believed in initially."
Looking back on KISS's mindset during the early days of the reunion tour in 1996, Stanley said: "Look, we can say life is short. But I reached a point where I thought, you don't know when somebody's going to bite the bullet. You don't know when anybody's gonna disappear. Let's do this while we're still here. And we did. So it was very exciting and also kind of tenuous because we were used to… We had been playing — Gene and I never stopped playing. We were playing. So I think perhaps our chops were a little more sharpened and there was work to be done because people's memories over time kind of glossed things over it. We had to create the show people thought they saw, not the show they actually saw. If you look at photos from KISS 'Alive!' or even KISS 'Alive II', the lighting truss was fairly bare bones, but compared to everybody else, it was stunning. So we had to come back and raise the bar that would parallel today and take us that much bigger. And we had to be who we were. And I think part of the omnipotence, if you will, of the band has always been that we were ageless, and that's potent stuff. If you see a band 30 or 40 or 50 years ago, they look the same. Well, we may not look the same this close up, but we can pull it off as a band, and that takes work. So everybody was told that they had to go work out and we got trainers for everybody, because we had to be how people remembered us. You don't wanna go on stage and have somebody [go], 'Oh, Jesus. Put a jacket on.' Nobody wants to see a fat rock star in tights. It's not a pretty sight."
Stanley went on to say that he was "really miserable" during KISS's original farewell tour. "The music was erratic at best," he said. "Some nights [were] awful, there was no sense of camaraderie or joy in what we were doing."
Paul explained that while bad reviews don't normally bother him, it becomes an issue when he agrees with them. "It's different when you go, 'They have their heads up their asses' or they want to attack what you're doing, but when you read things and go, 'This is right and I'm really unhappy,'" he said. "So it really felt like, 'Let's put the horse down. Let's just shoot it.' It went against everything that we had always believed and that's that the band is bigger than us."
KISS played its two final shows ever in December 2023 at New York City's Madison Square Garden.
The last show, held on December 2, 2023, streamed live on pay-per-view.
KISS launched its farewell trek in January 2019 but was forced to put it on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"End Of The Road" was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City. The trek was announced in September 2018 following a KISS performance of the band's classic song "Detroit Rock City" on "America's Got Talent".
Early last year, KISS sold its entire music catalog, likeness and brand name to Swedish company Pophouse Entertainment, which is behind "ABBA Voyage". A biopic, an avatar show, and a KISS-themed experience are already in the works, with Simmons and Stanley playing key roles in the development of all these projects, working closely with Pophouse. | +2 | |
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19 èþí 2025
Legendary Supergroup ASIA Returns With New Lineup
 Frontiers Music Srl has announced the signing of legendary English rock supergroup ASIA for an exciting new chapter in the band's celebrated history.
2024 was the Year Of The Dragon — and with it came a powerful rebirth: a new ASIA lineup featuring founding member, songwriter, producer, and keyboardist Geoff Downes, acclaimed drummer Virgil Donati, virtuoso guitarist John Mitchell, and stunning vocal newcomer and bassist Harry Whitley. This new chapter promises to reignite the band's iconic spirit, stepping into a promising new creative era.
Downes commented: "ASIA is thrilled to have recently signed a new deal with Frontiers Music Srl. Having been loyally supported by the label throughout the ASIA reunion period from 2005-2015, we are now entering an exciting new chapter in the band's 45-year history with a sequence of live albums, DVDs and a brand new studio album scheduled for a 2026 release. It's very much a homecoming for the band, and so we are greatly looking forward to a long and fruitful partnership with them in the future. Watch this space!"
Mario de Riso, A&R and business affairs VP of Frontiers, commented: "So proud and excited for the label to be able to bring back this iconic band. There was certainly unfinished business to deal with and, thanks to this fabulous new lineup, new music from ASIA can now come to fruition. It will be a blast!"
In the summer of 2023, Downes spearheaded a memorial concert to remember and celebrate the life of his late, much-loved friend and ASIA co-founder member, the great John Wetton. At the concert, he invited rock and roll veteran John Mitchell, who had played with both Wetton and Downes in ICON and in Wetton's own band, to join him on stage, taking on lead guitar duties. The duo was joined by newcomer Harry Whitley, whom Downes had discovered and whose vocal talents so closely resembled those of Wetton's, it was nothing short of spine-tingling.
In 1982, Wetton, Downes, Carl Palmer and Steve Howe became the founding fathers of supergroup ASIA, responsible for a string of multi-million-selling albums and chart-topping hits across the globe. ASIA's self-titled 1982 debut album was the biggest-selling album in the world that year. The band dominated the airwaves and for many "Heat Of The Moment", "Only Time Will Tell" and "Sole Survivor", among others, were the soundtrack to their youth.
Another multi-million seller, "Alpha" followed in 1983, and in 1986 "Astra" completed the trio of MTV-era hits. Greg Lake briefly joined the band for a Japanese tour, where ASIA's show from the fabled Budokan was the first intercontinental simulcast.
In 2006, the founding members reformed ASIA and released several new albums before Wetton's untimely passing in 2017. Since John's death, Geoff and Carl have toured with Sam Coulson, Billy Sherwood, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and Steve Howe guesting.
Busy touring the globe, Palmer is now immersed in a project very dear to his heart, the RETURN OF EMERSON LAKE & PALMER, while the legendary Howe remains at the helm of progressive rock legends YES. So, Geoff made the decision to take a fresh, new-looking ASIA back out on the road, recruiting Mitchell and Whitley as new members and bringing in the drumming excellence of the incomparable Virgil Donati, who had played with Wetton in UK.
ASIA has entertained and delighted a multitude of audiences over the last forty years. Some of the world's greatest musicians have taken up the ASIA baton during that time. However, Downes believes that the time is right to bring a fresh, new-looking ASIA out into the light.
The Year Of The Dragon foretells good fortune, abundance, and prosperity. The Dragon blessed 1982, the year ASIA was first unleashed into the world, and now the journey has come full circle. Time for the dragon to take flight once more.
Photo credit: Scruffy Bear Media | +2 | |
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19 èþí 2025
TESTAMENT's New Album To Be Mastered This Week; Fall 2025 Release Expected
 In a new interview with The Mixtape podcast, guitarist Eric Peterson of San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans TESTAMENT confirmed that he and his bandmates have completed mixing their upcoming studio album with Swedish producer Jens Bogren, who had previously worked with OPETH, KREATOR, PARADISE LOST, SOILWORK and AMON AMARTH, among others. The LP will mark TESTAMENT's follow-up to 2020's "Titans Of Creation", which was co-produced by Juan Urteaga, who previously worked with TESTAMENT on "Dark Roots Of Earth" (2012) and "Brotherhood Of The Snake" (2016).
Eric said about TESTAMENT's upcoming effort (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We just finished mixing last Friday, and we're gonna be mastering it this week. [We're] in the middle of okaying art for the album. Everything needs to be turned in before we leave [for our tour of] Australia. A busy week coming up, but I'm excited because it's all done. We're just putting it all together, getting ready to send it in to the label, and then, yeah, it's gonna be coming out in the fall. And it came out really good. Jens Bogren mixed it, and I'm really, really happy with it."
Asked how he stays motivated and engaged in the songwriting recording process after so many years, Peterson said: "It's a good question. Obviously, we've slowed down as far as the timing on how we put records out. [There's] a lot more going on in our lives. We tour a lot more places. New blood in the band, I think. So this time around, [TESTAMENT drummer] Chris [Dovas] is with us. But, yeah, it feels good right now. Everybody's happy. We get on really well. That's a good thing, especially in the writing area. So I foresee some really good couple of new TESTAMENT records coming out — this one, and we're already working on the new one, which is unheard of for us. Usually we start writing a couple of years later after we put out a record, but we've kept the writing going. It's just a lot of fun jamming."
Regarding how the TESTAMENT creative and songwriting process has changed over the years, Eric said: "Yeah, so like I was saying, just with this new lineup — it's not a new lineup, but we have a new drummer — it all starts with me, with riffs, and a drummer, I think. And it was just a lot of fun. And we're already working on new stuff for a record after the one that you haven't even heard yet. So it's cool. And then we know if there's downtime, we're, like, 'Let's jam.' So I think when we're done in '26, maybe early '27 with this record, [we'll be, like], 'Okay, now what do you got? Now we're gonna write again.' 'Cause we're getting older. I don't think we have enough time to wait five years. We'll be in our seventies or something. I'm trying to take advantage of knowing that I'm into it now and that we've got a got a good thing going. Just don't waste it."
When Bogren's name was first publicly floated last September in connection with TESTAMENT's upcoming album, Peterson told Brutal Planet Magazine. "[Jens is] a producer from Sweden, and he's done — God, he's done KREATOR, he's doing the new BEHEMOTH, he's done IN FLAMES, ARCH ENEMY. A lot of European bands. We usually work with Andy Sneap, but he's [the touring guitarist] in JUDAS PRIEST and he's just, like, 'Bro, I need some time off.' It's a good switch, though. I think Jens will do a good job. And yeah, there's a lot of crazy stuff on this record. I'm excited for everybody to hear it."
Last August, TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy told Oran O'Beirne of Overdrive.ie about the music direction of the follow-up to "Titans Of Creation": "We always try to outdo ourselves or make a better record or write better songs. It's always a challenge for ourselves, and I think this time we really took a long time to create the record. We kind of got everybody in the same room to really go through the songs and kind of put their two cents in to the arrangements. I think by having [our new drummer] Chris [Dovas] — he's a younger drummer, a really great drummer — but I think he brought you know a new fire to Eric in the writing process. And I believe because we're going on 37 years of making records, it's kind of full circle right now. We're kind of inspired by new generation, I guess, of music and metal. And Chris is a big part of that. He's a big fan of that. So I think he inspired Eric just to write some really aggressive, fast, creative riffs. And it really inspired me to really push myself to try to do a little more screaming, death vocals, melodic stuff. We even went as far as writing — I don't wanna say 'ballad', but it's something really catchy that's really slow that's something we haven't done in over 30 years. So I think just the overall songs and the confidence in the writing this time really is gonna stand out on this record."
When O'Beirne noted that TESTAMENT continues to "raise the bar" with each successive release, Billy concurred. "It's true," he said. "I think since 2000, 'The Gathering' record is where I think TESTAMENT kind of had a new life, I'd say the second life TESTAMENT. And then I became ill. And then after that, I didn't think I was actually gonna be playing music anymore. I just wasn't the same person. I'd look in the mirror and I didn't see the same guy. And after I beat it and survived it, I kind of thought, 'Okay, now it's time to continue on with life.' And then shortly after that we had the original[-lineup] reunion. And I think that's kind of what really set off the new life of TESTAMENT, because we were writing music, jamming with the guys who started it from the beginning and kind of taking the attitude, like, 'We're gonna finish this together, what we started.' But over time, Louie [Clemente, former TESTAMENT drummer] had to drop out 'cause of health reasons; he couldn't hold the sticks like he used to. So he had to drop out. And then shortly after that Greg [Christian, former TESTAMENT bassist] dropped out. But from then on, I think we've just kind of been writing for ourselves, maybe not really caring what necessarily the press thought. You always wanna impress the fans, but we were really writing to make us happy."
Earlier last August, TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about the band's upcoming LP: "Well, I think everybody knows we went through a couple different drummers the past couple years, I know it's very 'Spinal Tap'… Life imitating art. There were scheduling conflicts with Gene Hoglan. Then we got Dave Lombardo, who was amazing, but when it came to going all in on a next record, Dave was overbooked. And we needed somebody [who could step in]. And we've got a new drummer. His name's Chris Dovas. He wasn't even born when the first TESTAMENT record came out. But I've gotta say he is lighting fires. He's lit a fire under everybody and just great to play with. He nails everybody's parts from before, but he has his own style. And I'm excited about the next record."
In June 2024, Chuck told Nikki Blakk of the San Francisco, California radio station 107.7 The Bone about the lyrical themes covered in the new TESTAMENT songs: "[It's] not as focused [on], like, the aliens, creating mankind and that kind of stuff, but there is some of that. There's a lot. Each song definitely has its own identity lyrically. And again, we're writing stuff that is real, that happens with the environment; we're singing about that again. A.I., we're singing stuff about that. That's a big thing. So, there's always an inspiration for songs. I think it's a little easier. There's so much going on in our world to write about now. It's a crazy world today, so there's a lot of stuff to talk about. And I like singing about what's real and what's going on instead of some fantasy lyrics, because, for me, I think when I sing 'em, I have more conviction, I believe in 'em a little more. And maybe it's easier for me to remember the lyrics live. [Laughs]"
Naming specific tracks, Chuck said: "There's a song, 'Havana Syndrome', which is about the Havana Syndrome. People, look that up. There's 'Infanticide A.I.', which is another song going A.I. direction. And there's actually a slower song. We haven't done a slower song. I'm not gonna say 'ballad', but I'm gonna say a slower song that has a lot of groove and soul, called 'Meant To Be'. And it's like a classic TESTAMENT-type ballad, I guess, if you wanna use that word. But we've got a little bit of everything, but, again, I think it's really sticking to TESTAMENT, having to have some melodic stuff, even though there's some really brutal lyrics and real brutal, more of a death voice. I still put the hook in with more of a melodic hook or something. It's still classic TESTAMENT. If you listen to it, you'll go, 'That's TESTAMENT, but a little more octane to it.'"
Also in June, Chuck told Canada's The Metal Voice that he writes most of TESTAMENT's lyrics with Del James. "Del, he works with GUNS N' ROSES," Chuck said. "He's been working with them and wrote with them a long time ago. I think he had big hits like 'November Rain' with them. And we've been working [together] for over 20 years. So I always go down and work with him because I come up with a lot of the ideas and concepts, but he really interprets and gets the right words, how to say what I'm thinking. And we work fast. When we get together, we'll knock out like two songs in a day. So we don't mess around. We get there, say hello to each other, we sit down and we go right to work. It's about what we do."
In August 2023, Dovas was asked by Pod Scum if it was "unnerving" to step into a group whose list of previous drummers includes such heavyweights as Lombardo and Hoglan. He responded: "It was, especially at first because I knew that a lot of eyes were on me, and also I looked up to the band since I was a kid. Especially Lombardo and Gene — those are two of my favorite drummers right there. So to be put in that situation of taking over for them, I felt like I had a lot of responsibility and a lot of… I felt like I had something to prove a little bit, and I'm still practicing a lot and I just wanna do the best that I can do. Right now I'm not really nervous anymore because I've done two full tours with them now and we're working on the [new TESTAMENT] album and the friendship has been developing now and we all get along super well. They've welcomed me with open arms and it's been great and the fans have been great. I've been putting hours and hours of practice into it to make sure that I can do the best that I could do. And I look up to Dave and I look up to Gene as well, so, yeah, I just wanna play the songs well live and keep making the band sound good."
Prior to joining TESTAMENT as a full-time member, Dovas filled in for Lombardo on the first six dates of TESTAMENT's summer/fall 2022 leg of "The Bay Strikes Back Tour".
Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral (courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records)
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19 èþí 2025
See KING DIAMOND Perform In Milan, Italy During Spring/Summer 2025 European Tour
 Fan-filmed video of KING DIAMOND's entire June 16 concert at Alcatraz in Milan, Italy can be seen below.
Featured songs:
01. Arrival
02. A Mansion in Darkness 6:51
03. Halloween 11:33
04. Voodoo 15:56
05. "Them" 20:48
06. Spider Lilly 23:33
07. Two Little Girls 28:24
08. Sleepless Nights 31:07
09. Out From The Asylum 36:17
10. Welcome Home 37:47
11. The Invisible Guests 42:23
12. The Candle 47:31
13. Masquerade Of Madness 54:10
14. Eye Of The Witch 58:19
15. Burn 1:02:33
16. Abigail 1:06:17
KING DIAMOND launched its spring/summer 2025 European tour on June 4 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden.
The band's lineup for the current trek consists of King Diamond on lead vocals, Andy La Rocque and Mike Wead on guitars, Pontus Egberg on the bass, and Matt Thompson on drums. Greek female vocalist Hel Pyre, who previously played bass for NERVOSA, is handling backing vocals on the trek.
In a new interview with Finland's Chaoszine, La Rocque spoke about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for KING DIAMOND's forthcoming horror trilogy, part one of which is titled "Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920". He said: "Right after the [fall 2024] U.S. tour, we talked about, 'Okay, let's just take a short break and we start working on the next few songs right away,' because we have most of the songs like a demo thing of most of the songs. But then we had some issues with… I'm not gonna go into that, but there were some diseases, people were sick for a long time, and then the time just ran out kind of thing. And then we had to start planning the European tour [for the summer of 2025]. It's, like, 'Wow.' We now will, after going back from this European summer tour, we will just have a short break and then go back into recording the stuff."
Asked if all the lyrics for the next KING DIAMOND album have been written, Andy said: "[KING DIAMOND frontman and namesake has] got all the ideas in [his head]. A lot of lyrics are already done. He's got everything in [his head]. A lot of small Post-it notes everywhere with lyric lines and stuff like that. The whole story is pretty much there. So we just need to start recording the music in a proper way. And we've got demos of a lot of things. I mean, I think I have seven or eight songs kind of already. Demo needs to change, drums need to change, a few things, we could use that. But King also has a lot of ideas and songs. So we'll see how many of my songs will end up on the album — maybe three, maybe four. I don't know. We'll see. But we have a lot of music, that's for sure."
Elaborating on the KING DIAMOND songwriting process, Andy said: "I would say me and King write the music. That's how we want it to be. And we try to write it as complete as possible when we present it to each other. Sometimes it's not complete — it's like a guitar riff, maybe a click track or a drum machine. And sometimes it is kind of complete, except for we need real drums on it because usually on the demos it's like a programmed drum machine, things like that. Sometimes I play the bass, and we want [KING DIAMOND bassist] Pontus [Egberg] to play the bass, of course, but for the demos [I sometimes play the bass] to get the complete picture of what we want. And also I try to make as much of the keyboards as possible too. And same with King. And then when we think that, 'Okay, this might be a good song,' so we'll send it to each other. And then we start doing arrangement. King can call me and say, 'I think you should just take that part out or double that section because that's really good.' So that's how we work out things. And maybe I can tell him, like, 'That solo section or that section of the song is really good to play a solo on, so maybe we can use that instead of what yet have.' Things like that, arrangement-wise."
Andy also talked about the new KING DIAMOND songs "Electro Therapy" and "Spider Lilly" which were first performed during the band's fall 2024 U.S. tour. He said: "We were kind of done with these songs. That's why we decided to try to play them live and see how it works out. And that's what we did. So, for example, 'Spider Lilly' is gonna be on the album. And we play that live. And it's also released on video. So, yeah, that's how we do it. We don't have to wait for a whole album. We thought, 'We need to put out something now for the fans.'"
During the chat, La Rocque addressed his previous comment that he wanted the next KING DIAMOND album to have a more organic sound, similar to how it was on some of the band's early efforts. Asked if he and his bandmates will have to do a lot of "tweaking" in the studio to achieve this sound, Andy said: "Not really. That's what we don't do this time around. We don't do a lot of tweaks to it. It's organic also in the way of the playing is not like copied and pasted, stuff like that. It's more relaxed play. And there might be some things you hear that are like, 'Oh, yeah…' We're gonna keep that… Because that's what we had back in the '80s too when we recorded an album. Everything wasn't perfect — more organic, and not everything triggered and sound like everyone else. But we want a more acoustic, kind of more of the acoustic drums, and stuff like that, to make it a little bit more organic. It doesn't have to be perfect everywhere. It's good, but some things might not be a hundred percent, only 99.99, you know what I'm saying? But that's also to make everything like a more loose or organic feel to it. Of course it's gonna be good. We don't release anything that we're not happy with."
As for when "Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920" might see the light of day, Andy said: "We have been talking about we have to have it recorded before Christmas. That's the plan we have. Then if someone gets sick or whatever happens, then if that's not the case, we'll see. But that's the plan we have. We have to record everything by Christmas. So that means it's coming out next spring."
On the topic of KING DIAMOND's touring plans in support of "Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920", Andy said: "I don't know. Maybe next fall [we will be back on the road]. I don't know yet. We don't really have any plans with that yet. We'll see. When the album's done, we're gonna start working on a new cycle, so that includes touring. But hopefully, yes."
In a separate interview with Fistful Of Metal magazine, King stated about the status of the long-awaited new KING DIAMOND album: "Well, for starters, the original name that we had picked was 'The Institute'. However, that has now changed to, 'St Lucifer's Hospital 1920', since the start of the U.S. tour. There very well may be a track on the album called 'The Institute'. We were supposed to release the album this year, and in fact the album was supposed to be completely finished prior to the live shows, but I just want to make sure that it's the best material I've ever released. Right now, we are gearing up to film the next video for the single 'Lobotomy', which will definitely be released later this year. Other songs that are completed are an intro track called 'Under The Surface', 'The Institute', 'The Nun', 'Faceless' and, of course, 'Spider Lilly'. There's another track, which I'm not sure is going to be on the album yet, called 'Deep In The Darkness 1920'. Andy has been working on at least five tracks, one of which has as monster chorus that we plan to record with a choir. The plan is that this album will be the first of a trilogy, and I already have all three album titles."
Last December, KING DIAMOND released a studio version of "Spider Lilly". It was a first-time mixing collaboration with Arthur Rizk, who also mastered the track. The music and lyrics were written by King Diamond.
The official music video for "Spider Lilly" was directed by My Good Eye Visuals. Part of the clip was filmed at the very haunted Pennhurst Asylum outside of Philadelphia on a travel day during the band's 2024 North American tour, two days before Halloween. It was only King himself and actress Jodi Cachia who could participate on that specific day, together with producer David Brodsky, Allie Woest and their crew.
KING DIAMOND performed "Spider Lilly" live for the first time at the kick-off concert of the band's 2024 North American headlining tour, which launched on October 15 at Boeing Center at Tech Port in San Antonio, Texas. The "Saint Lucifer's Hospital 1920" trek ran through December 6 in Dallas, Texas. Support came from OVERKILL and NIGHT DEMON. Additional backing vocals for the KING DIAMOND set were provided by the special guest Myrkur.
In November 2024, the KING DIAMOND shows in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (November 20 at Edmonton Convention Center),Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (November 21 at TCU Place),Calgary, Alberta Canada (November 22 at Grey Eagle Event Centre),Portland, Oregon (November 24 at Keller Auditorium) and Seattle, Washington (November 25 at The Moore Theatre) were canceled due to "unforeseen circumstances".
In October 2023, KING DIAMOND released a music video for the 2019 single "Masquerade Of Madness". The clip was directed by David Brodsky and Allison Woest of My Good Eye Visuals.
A month after KING DIAMOND released "Masquerade Of Madness" in November 2019, La Rocque told The Metal Voice that he came up with the music for the track first before passing it off to King, who "needed to arrange a few things and change just a small few things for making it work with his vocals. And then, of course, he wrote the lyrics for it," the guitarist revealed. "So we [went] a little back and forth until he felt like, 'Okay, this is cool, man. This is the right key to sing in,' and all that."
KING DIAMOND received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill" off the band's last album, 2007's "Give Me Your Soul … Please".
"Give Me Your Soul ... Please" sold 4,500 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 174 on The Billboard 200 chart.
KING DIAMOND released a DVD/Blu-ray, "Songs For The Dead Live", in January 2019 via Metal Blade Records. The set captured 1987's seminal "Abigail" album in its entirety, twice, and in very different locales: Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting in June 2016 and Philadelphia's Fillmore in November 2015. The performances featured KING DIAMOND's current band, comprising of guitarists La Rocque and Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg and Matt Thompson.
Photo in poster by Jeremy Saffer
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19 èþí 2025
Ex-FEAR FACTORY Singer BURTON C. BELL Wants To Keep Making New Music: 'I'm Not Obsolete Yet'
 In a new interview with Tom Robbins of the And Now The Band podcast, former FEAR FACTORY singer Burton C. Bell — who issued one solo single in 2025 ("Savages"),two solo singles in 2024 ("Anti-Droid" and "Technical Exorcism"),and a cover of RAMMSTEIN's "Du Hast" in 2023 — spoke about how he approached the writing and recording of his latest solo output. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Working on my own now, I'm able to work with different producers at any given time. And Alex Crescioni, who did 'Anti-Droid', I met him while recording the RAMMSTEIN cover for 'Du Hast' that was part of a RAMMSTEIN tribute record. So, I met him doing that, and I had the opportunity to speak to him about my wishes and my goals for the future. Essentially, I was putting it out there in the universe, as they say. And he heard me, and he was, like, 'Hey, I've got this song. How would you like to try it?' So I listened to it, and I'm, like, 'Oh my God.' The song spoke to me. So I was, like, 'Well, let's start here. Let's do this.' And it just kind of snowballed since then. I'm able to work with a band now. The song I started working on after 'Anti-Droid' was 'Technical Exorcism', and I started working with a guitar player-producer named Henrik Linde, who is now in my band, and he wrote 'Savages'. And 'Savages' is a banger, man. As soon as I heard it, I'm, like, 'Yes, let's do this.' I think I struck a chord with my fanbase, and I think a lot of people are really happy with what they're hearing. So there's been a lot of positivity. Of course, there's always gonna be the haters. You can't control that. But it comes with the territory. I've been dealing with that for 30 years."
Regarding his plans to release more music in the coming months, Burton said: "The new music that we're currently recording is as good. It's not the same song as 'Savages', but it's still heavy, and we're exploring different ideas. So it's all within my mantra of 'heavy, groovy, dark and moody'. One of the songs we're working on has a really heavy BLACK SABBATH/TYPE O [NEGATIVE] type of vibe, which is fucking cool. Which is great. I love both bands. So we're exploring. I'd like to keep on working. They understand what I'd like to do, and they want the best for me as well as for them. So, what's good for me is great for them. So we're making it happen. So hopefully we'll get back from [touring] Australia [in June] and we're gonna keep recording new music."
Asked if the plan is to eventually release "a fully fleshed out album", Burton said: "I think probably an EP will be my next release. I'm trying to get more music done and put out the EP and then write more music and then put out a full album. But the idea is to just keep working, keep putting things out, dropping nuggets here and there for the fans, show 'em I'm still alive, show 'em I'm still working, show 'em I'm still doing music. I'm not obsolete yet."
Bell kicked off his Australian solo tour on June 11 at The Triffid in Brisbane.
Burton played the first concert with his solo band on June 13, 2024 at 1720 in Los Angeles, California.
Backing Bell at his recent gigs have been guitarist Henrik Linde (THE VITALS, DREN),drummer Ryan "Junior" Kittlitz (ALL HAIL THE YETI, THE ACID HELPS),bassist Tony Baumeister (ÆGES) and multi-instrumentalist Stewart Cararas.
Bell's discography includes multiple live and recorded collaborations with BLACK SABBATH icon Geezer Butler and JOURNEY's Deen Castronovo (as G/Z/R); industrial maverick Al Jourgensen and MINISTRY; and guest vocal appearances with PITCHSHIFTER, CONFLICT, SOIL, STATIC-X, SOULFLY and DELAIN, among others. He's the vocalist of ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS and CITY OF FIRE and, of course, the co-creator of FEAR FACTORY and the only musician to appear on every FEAR FACTORY release from 1992 through 2024.
FEAR FACTORY created a sound that revolutionized extreme metal, defined in no small part by Bell's innovative scream/sing dichotomy and the influences he brought from post-punk and industrial. Songs like "Replica", "Linchpin", "Edgecrusher", "Fear Campaign", "Archetype", "Cyber Waste" and "Zero Signal" are modern metal anthems. "Demanufacture" (1995) and the RIAA gold-certified "Obsolete" (1998) are genre-redefining works heralded by fans and critics as essential albums. Orwell, Bradbury, "Blade Runner", and sophisticated sci-fi and fantasy works fed Bell's lyrics and concepts.
The band toured the world with METALLICA, SLIPKNOT, KORN, MEGADETH and OZZY OSBOURNE, taking bands like SYSTEM OF A DOWN and STATIC-X out as support acts in their early stages. After years of behind-the-scenes band member turmoil and legal issues, Bell left FEAR FACTORY in the fall of 2020.
The 56-year-old Bell had been largely inactive on the musical front since officially announcing his departure from FEAR FACTORY in September 2020. At the time he said that he could not "align" himself with someone whom he did not trust or respect, an apparent reference to FEAR FACTORY founding guitarist Dino Cazares. Bell has since been replaced in the band by the Italian-born singer Milo Silvestro.
In early May, Burton reflected on his decision to leave FEAR FACTORY in September 2020 after a 31-year run as the band's singer and pursue a solo career. He told the Post-Punk.TV podcast: "It was time for me to do other things. And here I am. Venturing out on my own is scary. Doing something solo is frightening. I'm, like, 'Am I doing the right thing?' As artists, we always question ourselves. [We hear] voices in our head. There's voices in my head that are, like, 'Oh my God. What the fuck are you doing?' But I've gotta follow my heart because my heart is directing me towards a path that I truly wanna be in, and that's the artistic path."
Bell continued: "Failure is something that, as artists, we experience on a daily basis. But you just can't let that failure dictate your life. You have to learn from it. And once you learn from that, it's, like, 'Okay, I did that wrong. This time I'll try it this way. And so I am moving forward with my solo career, writing music that, for me, fits my mantra.
"I came up with a mantra maybe a couple years ago," Burton added. "Now that I have a [solo] band that I'm working with on a daily basis, they have grown to understand me as well. And so this next [solo] song I'm about to release called 'Savages' on May 30th, we wrote together as a band. And it fits my mantra, which is 'heavy, groovy, dark and moody'. And I think that fits every aspect that I wanna do. It fits the criteria of every band that I've ever liked. I think it fits the criteria of every band I've been a part of. So what I'm doing now is an amalgamation of everything I've ever done. I'm taking it all, creating this nice little piece, and I'm releasing it, making something new for myself. And I think when people hear this new song 'Savages', and the next song, which is called 'Cold Lazarus', they [will be], like, 'Wow, that sounds familiar, but it's kind of new.' So it's, like, there you go. That's what we're doing."
Burton went on to say: "So I'm super excited about the future. I'm super excited about my tour coming up in June, going to Australia, and just very excited for what the future holds. I'm just staying creative. That's what it's all about. Being an artist is being creative, and creating art, whether it's writing music or photography, you're expressing yourself through your visions and from what you see and how the world affects you."
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PAPA ROACH's JACOBY SHADDIX: 'I'm Glad I Made It Out The Other Side With The Perspective That I Have Now'
 In a new interview Terrie Carr of WDHA-FM 105.5 FM, the rock music station licensed to Dover and Morristown, New Jersey, PAPA ROACH frontman Jacoby Shaddix spoke about his band's continued commitment to stressing compassion for those dealing with mental illness and attempting to remove the stigma that comes with it. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think it's important. I think it's a reflection of the walk I've had with my life and my ups and downs and just my brutal honesty with it and just being real about my life and finding that people connect with that authenticity and what we do. And it's gnarly, 'cause now I look back at this story that I've written through all these songs and I listen to some of the old songs and I'm, like, 'Dude, you weren't all right.' I was going through some of my old notebooks and just reading — sometimes I just put my pen to the paper and just write out, I would call it writing out the crazy — and there was crazy in there. And I'm glad I made it out the other side with the perspective that I have now. I've gained a lot of tools and skills and knowledge about self-awareness and to own my issues and learn and grow and not drag everybody through the thick of my highs and lows of my life."
Jacoby added: "I've transformed my life in so many ways and put that into the music… [And] it is a trip that we are as impactful as we are now. And I think speaking about mental health and using our music as a voice for that in culture is important. And I feel like that's really a huge bond that we have with our fans and culture. And I think my ability of just being honest and vulnerable has opened that space for us. And it's dope. 'Cause now we're working with the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention [AFSP] and raising money with them, and this story that we've been telling about mental health and the highs and the lows and the struggles of it, now I've got a partner in the real world that's actually boots on the ground, putting the work in with the people helping people. And that's a beautiful thing to be part of."
Shaddix recently told Skratch N' Sniff and SNSMix.com that PAPA ROACH had "about five, six songs finished up" for the follow-up to the band's 2022 album "Ego Trip". He added: "We don't have a release date yet [for the new PAPA ROACH album]. We just wanna get this one perfect before we drop it. But fans can expect new music throughout the year. Actually, after I go in the studio, I'll jump back down to L.A. We're shooting a music video for a brand new single we're gonna drop in the middle of June, and so that's coming up right around the corner. And that one's a fucking banger, dude. I'm so excited about this next song."
Asked if there is a possibility of some guests appearing on the new PAPA ROACH album, Jacoby said: "Actually, yeah. I've got a couple guests already on this record, but I ain't gonna tell you who it is 'cause we just wanna surprise you as the tracks drop."
Last month, PAPA ROACH released a music video for an acoustic version of "Even If It Kills Me". The original single reached No. 1 at U.S. Rock Radio, marking PAPA ROACH's 13th appearance at the top of the charts.
In March, PAPA ROACH released a "reimagined" version of "Even If It Kills Me". The band and Joshua Landry again produced the track. "Even If It Kills Me (Reimagined)" was a fresh take on its heavier counterpart, showcasing the hit song in a new light, with a melodic arrangement and signature vocals delivered by Shaddix.
PAPA ROACH are two-time Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling leaders in alternative hard rock music. PAPA ROACH are not unfamiliar with calling attention to mental health and have been doing so since the seminal release of their first hit single "Last Resort". Since then, the band has gone on to create 10 studio albums, including "Ego Trip".
Photo credit: Bryson Roatch
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19 èþí 2025
KING'S X's DOUG 'DUG' PINNICK: 'I Think That We Kind Of Influenced A Lot Of Bands'
 In a new interview with John J. Thompson of the True Tunes podcast, KING'S X frontman Doug "Dug" Pinnick spoke about his band's supposed influence on such early 1990s grunge acts as PEARL JAM, SOUNDGARDEN and ALICE IN CHAINS. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "When our first record came out, it was the first time I ever heard Drop D tuning. Later I heard a couple of other bands that did it, like on one or two songs. But what happened was, in 1985 Ty [Tabor, KING'S X guitarist] wrote this song, and it was in Nashville tuning, Drop D… I can't remember which song it was. And this is before we got a record deal because we were on getting on a plane, going to Heritage farm, where Jim and Tammy Bakker's TV show was, and we were on the show playing with Morgan Cryar, and we were flying out. And Ty handed us a cassette and said, 'I wrote this song.' He says, 'I don't know if it's any good or not, but give it a listen.' And Jerry [Gaskill, KING'S X drummer] and I plugged in together on the plane before we took off and listened to this demo, and we just went, 'That is really cool.' And I said, 'How did you do that?' And he says, 'The Nashville tuning. I tuned the E down to D.' I said, 'I'm gonna go home and try that when I get back.' And when we got back home, I wrote, like, eight songs that are on the first record and Ty wrote the other songs that were in Drop D. And it was just something that he came up with and I ran with it."
Regarding KING'S X's musical connection to some of Seattle's biggest grunge bands, Pinnick said: " About five, six years ago, Kim Thayil from SOUNDGARDEN told me that in 1985 he showed Chris [Cornell, SOUNDGARDEN singer] Drop D tuning, and Chris started writing songs in Drop D also. 'Ultramega OK', I think it is, by SOUNDGARDEN. The beginning has all this weird-sounding noises, and then it comes in with a riff that's Drop D-tuned… Our record came out maybe a month before that, and our record had all that noise in the beginning of it, and it had Drop D tuning. So I argue — who was it [that came first]?
"The thing I know though is that in rock music in general, everybody turned their heads at KING'S X because we came out of that metal thing, and grunge wasn't even on the register yet," Pinnick continued. "It was this little thing that was happening in Seattle but it hadn't exploded yet, so nobody was paying attention. But I know that after we came out, I met ALICE IN CHAINS, and Jeff Ament from PEARL JAM, and all those people told me how influential we were to them. So I would say that I think that we kind of influenced a lot of bands, but ALICE IN CHAINS was really what brought it out to the world. I remember that Kerrang! [magazine] called ALICE IN CHAINS 'KING'S X in hell'… They didn't like ALICE IN CHAINS when they came out — hardly any of the media did — and I thought, 'These people are stupid, 'cause this is a great band.' And that record, I heard that KING'S X influence or that vibe, and they made it dark. And it was kind of the way I wanted KING'S X to be. I always wanted KING'S X to be very dark like that, but every time the three of us sang, it sounded like THE BEATLES and everything was pretty."
This past February, Pinnick was asked by The Lounge With Jake Ellenbogen about Ament's declaration in the early 1990s, at the height of PEARL JAM's success, on MTV that "KING'S X invented grunge". Doug said: "It was really, really, really, really so cool for him to say that, especially when nobody else would, especially those who would agree with him, who wouldn't say nothing. And it meant a lot for him to publicly say that. 'Cause I've been told how influential KING'S X has been by almost every musician I've run into, but very few will make a big statement about it. They'll mention the classics… And for us, I think we just carried the torch of a type of music that needed to be explored.
"Drop D tuning isn't nothing new," Doug continued. "We just decided to play [THE BEATLES'] 'She's So Heavy' in Drop D tuning. That's about it. Drop D country music with BEATLES singing. Because Drop D tuning is basically bluegrass music. And Ty listened to bluegrass when he played it, when he was in grade school and stuff. His dad and his brother, and his brother played banjo and so he comes from that. And he would play these riffs with this Drop D thing, and he just took the distortion up, and there it is. And grunge happens. And it was the easy thing to do, I think. And I think that when a lot of people heard the difference in the sound of when you Drop D tune, it's just a different tone. And we weren't used to it at the time. Everybody's used to it now. It's, like, everybody's even lower. It's not even special anymore. Drop D tuning is, like, what's that? That's, like, weak. It really is. Now, regular Drop D tuning is, like, 'Huh?' Yeah, we got KORN, we got MESHUGGAH. Fuck that. But back in the day, just Drop D was, like… METALLICA was in E. And that was the heaviest shit. SLAYER, that was the heaviest shit we ever heard. Now, every now and then, Eddie Van Halen would drop his E string down to D, and Tony Iommi would tune down on some BLACK SABBATH stuff, but at the end of the day, the whole Drop D way it's played and how you phrase it and stuff is a unique way that bluegrass players play. And it's an easy, simple way.
"Someone told me one time that the easiest way to change the world with your music is make up something cool that any kid could play as soon as he picks up a guitar," Pinnick added. "So think about when grunge hit — from HELMET to you name it. FILTER. I mean, within six months there was like a whole another wave of music. And people said it was grunge because it was grungy like Neil Young."
Reflecting on how NIRVANA's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", upon its release in September 1991, wreaked confusion upon the hair metal vanguard, putting an end to an era dominated by glamorous, androgynous and sparkly rock stars who absolutely saturated the radio waves and were almost exclusively what aired on MTV, Doug said: "Well, they wiped out the germs, if you wanna look at it in a pharmaceutical way of looking at it. We were just burnt out on late '80s everything. And it was like a virus. Everything sounded the same. It was on the radio, it was on TV — everybody looked the same, the songs sounded the same. And when grunge came out, right before that, there was KING'S X, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, FAITH NO MORE and JANE'S ADDICTION, all within a year of each other. All of a sudden, there was this new thing that was happening. Nobody was following anybody, but we were all listening to each other. And kids wanted something new. And I think that because of those bands and KING'S X, the grunge thing, those bands kind of helped push people to look towards Seattle, which was coming out with some radical stuff that was inspired by these bands, I feel us included."
He continued: "I know that Kim told me, from SOUNDGARDEN, that he showed Chris Cornell Drop D tuning in '85. And Ty wrote 'In The New Age' in 1985… So both bands had never heard of each other and had started writing songs in Drop D tuning. Chris and I both — I've gotten to know him before he passed away and stuff. We talked about tunings and all that stuff. And so there was like a neck-and-neck SOUNDGARDEN-KING'S X thing happening where we were that generation that was daring to do different tunings and different timings, and we had these two different singers. And you listen to some of the SOUNDGARDEN and KING'S X stuff, and there was times where you're going, 'Which band is which?', like 'Outshined' and 'Spoonman' and 'Black Hole Sun' and stuff. And even though nobody's gonna go, 'Oh, that sounds like KING'S X,' but I know that we were all listening to each other. Well, not all. There was always like one person in all those bands that was a KING'S X fan, the rest of them couldn't care less. But that one person always would bring in that thing that pushed it towards that vibe, which was pretty cool. I mean, even PEARL JAM, they don't sound like KING'S X, but put on the first record and listen to that rhythm section… That's us, me and Jerry slamming that shit.
"I think we all started to see this new thing happening. We all started pushing each other. We all became fans of each other. Everybody was going, 'Uh oh, we found something, guys.' And most of them would give KING'S X credit, but in the soup of everything, we were all kind of pushing each other's buttons, in many ways."
Pinnick previously spoke about the influence KING'S X had on the grunge scene in the early 1990s during an August 2022 interview with Meltdown of Detroit's WRIF radio station. He said at the time: "There was thing called Drop D tuning we did in '88 when our first record came out. And almost the whole record was Drop D tuning.
"Someone told me one time, they said, 'The quickest way to get everybody to mimic you is to play something that any kid can play when they pick up a guitar immediately.' And Drop D tuning, when you pick up your guitar, you can play with one finger up and down the neck," he explained. "All of a sudden you've got HELMET and you've got — down the line, all these bands that were playing two-chord Drop D songs. And then ALICE IN CHAINS and PEARL JAM, they'll all tell you that we influenced them.
"I know Chris Cornell, and me and him were neck-and-neck sometimes writing songs. We'd talk about it. Somebody called me up one time and said, 'You heard the new SOUNDGARDEN tune?' And I go, 'Why?' And they said, 'It sounds like a KING'S X ripoff.' I go, 'What was it?' They said, ''Outshined'.' And I'm going, 'Yeah, it has that vibe.' Somebody said 'Spoonman' sounds like a song Ty wrote. And we were making those records at the same time.
"I remember talking to Chris when we were making the 'Dogman' record [and] they were making 'Superunknown', and we were laughing about how high we used to sing. And we made an agreement to sing lower on the record. And we got 'Black Hole Sun' and 'Flies And Blue Skies'. So I think that me and him, I'm sure, we influenced each other and pushed each other.
"I remember when [KING'S X's] 'Gretchen [Goes To Nebraska]' came out, we went on tour. And I remember coming home after seven months and turned on 'Headbangers Ball' and every band was drop-D-tuned and they were all new — except for BON JOVI. All the rest of them, because of this whole new thing that had happened. And I'm going, 'My goodness, they're doing kind of what we do.' And the screamers had disappeared, and those singers that sang real high to glam rock were gone. And people were grooving again and they were singing lower melodies. And that's kind of what we were doing when we first came out. So if that was an inspiration to people, yeah, I'll take that, 'cause we were just imitating people that we heard. [Laughs]"
Pinnick went on to say that he has known the ALICE IN CHAINS guys "since before they got signed." He recalled: "Layne [Staley, late ALICE IN CHAINS singer] did say to me, 'Keep putting out, writing songs so we can keep ripping you off.' He said that to Jerry, actually. But he told me that on 'Rooster', he said, 'I was just doing Doug.' And I gave him a big hug. And I love those guys. They were just young kids. I remember PEARL JAM, they didn't have a record deal. And Jeff [Ament] sent me a tape with TEMPLE OF THE DOG on the other side of it. And neither band was out. Back in the day, they looked up to us and they used to say, 'We can't wait till we can open for you guys and get record deals and stuff.' And we thought that was so cute. And then they all get record deals and just blow us out of the water. They all did — every one of them. And I smile and look at them and go, 'Man, I knew you guys when you were riding around in vans playing for nobody.'
"I remember KING'S X was on the road with AC/DC, opening, and some of the guys from PEARL JAM and ALICE IN CHAINS came to the show in Tacoma, Washington," Doug added. "And they were playing a little club. And they said, 'Would you guys come to the show?' And so after we got done playing, we went over to the bar, and ALICE IN CHAINS had MOOKIE BLAYLOCK, which was PEARL JAM, opening for them. There was probably, maybe 20 people in the place. And it was awesome. I remember watching Mike McCready and going, 'This kid plays like Jimi Hendrix.' He looked like he was 15. I loved them all.
"So, yeah, we all go way back. And yeah, we've all kind of inspired each other in some ways, I think."
KING'S X's 13th studio album, "Three Sides Of One", came out in September 2022.
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Leverage
