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12 мар 2025
BRUCE DICKINSON Considered Quitting IRON MAIDEN In 2015 – “I Would Have Offered To Help Them Find Another Singer”
 Iron Maiden singer, Bruce Dickinson, seriously considered quitting the band in 2015 while he was being treated for throat cancer. Speaking with MusicRadar, Dickinson reveals that he would have left the band if he had been unable to sing with the same power and range as before.
Dickinson was diagnosed with throat cancer just as Maiden were completing the recording of their 2015 album, The Book Of Souls. And as he now recalls, he always felt confident that his treatment would be successful.
“I felt good,” he says. “I believed I was going to come through fairly strongly. It was going to be a hard ten months, but at the end of that, I thought – I hoped – I should be able to do what I’d done before. But if not, I was quite prepared to leave – because if you can’t sing like you should be able to sing, that’s it.”
He explains: “I would have wanted the band to carry on properly. But I would have offered to help them find another singer, because there are other people out there.”
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12 мар 2025
EPICA Shares Music Video For 'T.I.M.E.' Single From Upcoming 'Aspiral' Album
 Symphonic metal frontrunners EPICA return with a spellbinding third single off their upcoming album, "Aspiral", which will see the light of day on April 11 via Nuclear Blast. "T.I.M.E." is a track that takes listeners on a journey through self-discovery, as the title stands for "Transformation, Integration, Metamorphosis and Evolution" and delves into the art of dying — more specifically, the death of the ego, and the necessary steps one must take to achieve personal and spiritual growth. Bringing this vision to life is the new music video created by Dave Letelier, which captures the song’s haunting aesthetic.
In a recent interview with Paltrocast host Darren Paltrowitz, EPICA vocalist Simone Simons was asked if it was a "difficult" process making "Aspiral". She responded: "It didn't feel difficult. It was definitely more intense because we had scheduled more writing camps where we would get together to spin off each other's brains or spawn ideas back and forth, also together with our producer. And I think compared to how we did it back in the day, let's say before [2021's] 'Omega', we were often writing, recording while still being on the road. And that, I think, is more difficult. And we learned from that mistake by making more time, clearing our schedule to really focus on the writing and recording of the album, to stay in the flow and to keep a better balance. We toured a lot in our whole career, but for us it's also important that we get to put the right amount of energy and focus into creating new music because that definitely has the priority. Without music, we cannot tour. Of course, we have a lot of albums now, but still it's a new way how we roll nowadays."
To celebrate the "Aspiral" release, EPICA will play three exclusive shows in the United States in early May: in New York City, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.
The "Aspiral" LP title is derived from the eponymous bronze sculpture made by Polish sculptor and painter Stanisław Szukalski back in 1965 and stands for renewal and inspiration — key words that define EPICA in 2025. In Szukalski's work every detail is a piece of art in its own right, and there's always more to the story than you initially think. The band saw this as the perfect analogy for the creation of this ninth album: each song stands on its own with a distinctive vibe and meaning, while together they enforce each other into a monumental effort.
The album, featuring stunning cover artwork by Hedi Xandt (RAMMSTEIN, GHOST, PARKWAY DRIVE),is now available for pre-order. The special editions even include the Blu-ray and audio recordings of the full monumental "Symphonic Synergy" performance in Amsterdam that the band recorded in 2024 with an orchestra and choir.
Recorded once again at Sandlane Studios and expertly mixed and produced by Joost Van Den Broek, "Aspiral" boasts 11 new tracks:
01. Cross The Divide
02. Arcana
03. Darkness Dies In Light - A New Age Dawns Part VII
04. Obsidian Heart
05. Fight to Survive - The Overview Effect
06. Metanoia - A New Age Dawns Part VIII
07. T.I.M.E.
08. Apparition
09. Eye Of The Storm
10. The Grand Saga Of Existence - A New Age Dawns Part IX
11. Aspiral
The band's music video for the uptempo anthem "Cross The Divide", directed by Kunststoff, can be seen below.
In a recent interview with Mexico's Euphonico, Simons stated about the inspiration for the LP's first single, "Arcana", she said: "Well, it was kind of a lot of things coming together. Rob [Van Der Loo, EPICA bassist] and I are, besides colleagues, we're also really good friends. And he had a deck of tarot cards with him. And I thought, 'Just for the fun of it, let's do a session. Let me draw some cards and then you explain to me what they mean.' And it was a very enlightening experience, I guess. The song, the music was also written by Rob. And then I came up with the idea, like, 'What if I write a song that's kind of inspired by the meaning of the tarot cards and the session that I had with him and what I think it meant for me at that time in my life and where I am now?' So, yeah, it's a very — how do you say? — soul-searching kind of topic, and that's something EPICA has been writing about for quite a while, but so far we haven't touched on the tarot subject. So I thought this could be a cool topic to integrate in the new album, which is all about reinventing yourself, like a rebirth, renewing yourself. So it kind of a cool thing to draw inspiration from."
Elaborating on the writing and recording process for EPICA's upcoming album, Simone said: "I think 'Arcana' was one of the songs that came together quite quickly. We had many writing camp sessions in Holland. We rented a house where we were meeting a couple times for, like, a week in a row, and we were all just sitting together. And Rob had also kind of a clear view of what he wanted vocal-wise, and then he just let me do my thing. And it went very naturally to write the lyrics.
"The vocal recordings [for the new EPICA album] took place in the summertime, which is a good time to do so because autumn [and] winter is a time when everybody gets sick," she explained. "So, for me, it's great if I'm in the summer in the studio, so I'm in a good shape or not running a risk of getting a cold and that it affects the voice, because I did have to record albums back in the day where I did get sick. And luckily you can't hear it. I know which songs are the ones. But it was a very smooth process. We worked together with the same producer, Joost Van Den Broek, who became a little bit like the seventh EPICA bandmember. And it's great working with him. Yeah, we were diving into all the little details and we were really concentrated on making the songs as a band together.
"I think people that don't know EPICA, they don't know that we don't live in the same village," Simone added. "We live, actually, in four different countries. So for us to get together and really work on the songs is tricky. And we started doing that already for 'Omega', and we really liked that, to clear our touring schedule, because we tour a lot and to really be there together and not everybody at home in their home studios. You get a total different result if everybody's there in the same room; you feed off each other's creativity, and that's very beneficiary for the songs."
Asked if there is a main songwriter in EPICA or if everybody contributes to the songwriting process, Simone said: "Everybody gets to write songs. And some songs, I think the guys did write demo songs on their own, because we all have our home studios, and when we were together in the writing camp, then we were sparring off ideas and sending each other the files, and then everybody was working on a random song at the same time. There was a funny moment where, I think, Coen [Janssen, EPICA keyboardist], Ariën [Van Weesenbeek, EPICA drummer], Rob and I were sitting in the living room area, but kind of far apart from each other, and Coen was working on a song and he thought he had his headphones plugged in, but it was running out of the speakers. And then we said, 'Oh, cool. That sounds great. Which song are you working on?' And he was, like, 'Oh shit, you guys could hear what I was working on.' So it was everybody in different rooms. Isaac [Delahaye, EPICA guitarist] was in the attic playing the guitar, and I had to wait until very late before I could go sleep 'cause he went on writing music, recording guitars until almost one o'clock in the morning. But it was a really lovely experience. And everybody gets to write songs and everybody gets to work on those songs. So, we all put our little own salsa on the songs. [Laughs]"
"Arcana" marked EPICA's first new release since "Omega" and the collaboration EP "The Alchemy Project".
The single is now available on all streaming platforms. It also includes "The Ghost In Me (Danse Macabre)", EPICA's recently released collaboration with Europe's second-most visited theme park, Netherlands's magical De Efteling, and their much-anticipated new attraction, Danse Macabre.
The previously released music video for "Arcana", directed by Remko Tielemans, can be seen below.
In a recent interview with Spain's Mariskal Rock, Simone stated about EPICA's upcoming album: "I'm so happy with the songs, I'm so proud how everything turned out and it's gonna be another amazing EPICA album. We added a couple of new elements, but also went back to the roots, the old EPICA. And yeah, I just can't wait for people to hear this.
"I loved 'Omega' and we toured so much with 'Omega' and had wonderful experiences, but then when you reach the end of a touring cycle, you start to get itchy and feel, 'Okay, now it's time to do the new album. Can we do it as good or maybe even better than the last album?' That's always the thing we strive for, ways to renew ourselves a little bit. And we feel a very strong spiritual connection also that it's our ninth album. So there's gonna be themes around the symbolic meaning of nine, the number nine."
Elaborating on the musical direction of EPICA's next album, Simone said: "The songs are heavy. There's a beautiful ballad, a very cinematic song, very uptempo, very doomy, melancholic and amazing, amazing power riffs. It's the most epic EPICA, I think, so far. Yeah, I think so. I mean, I'm feeling it. I'm very happy with it. I'm proud of it."
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12 мар 2025
TOM MORELLO Is 'Honored' To Serve As 'Musical Director' Of OZZY OSBOURNE's Final Concert
 In a recent interview with Clare Lane of the Chicago radio station WBEZ, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello spoke about his participation at what he has called "the greatest heavy metal show ever", the upcoming "Back To The Beginning" charity event on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The concert will mark the original lineup of BLACK SABBATH's last-ever performance and Ozzy Osbourne's final appearance as a solo artist. Asked what it has been like to work in the Osbourne universe, Morello, who will serve as the "musical director", at the show, said: "Heavy metal is the music that made me love music, and BLACK SABBATH is the band that invented heavy metal. So, when Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne asked me to be the musical director of what's going to be the last BLACK SABBATH show — the last Ozzy Osbourne show in the soccer stadium that's like a half-block down from where Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler, the bass player of BLACK SABBATH, grew up — I was honored to do that.
"Right now, we have, like, 14 bands. You know, it's METALLICA, GUNS N' ROSES. It's, like, all the biggest bands in the history of heavy metal. The show is gonna be about 10 hours long, but it's gonna be a salute to a genre that people all around the world love. You know, it's been the music that has really made me love music. I'm interested in a lot of different kinds of music now, but I never would have been interested in any kind of music had it not been for metal."
Asked if he is going to take the stage, Morello said: "Oh, of course, I will be up there. Speaking of Northern Illinois, this may be a little bit of a spoiler alert, but Adam Jones, the guitarist of TOOL, he and I went to Libertyville High School together and played in a band. Billy Corgan, the singer of SMASHING PUMPKINS, grew up a few suburbs over. The three of us are going to play together for the first time ever at the show. So, there'll be an 847 connection."
"Back To The Beginning" sold out in less than 10 minutes last month. The concert will mark the first time that the original lineup of BLACK SABBATH — Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward — have played together in 20 years.
Also set to appear at the event are METALLICA, GUNS N' ROSES, TOOL, SLAYER, PANTERA, GOJIRA, ALICE IN CHAINS, HALESTORM, LAMB OF GOD, ANTHRAX and MASTODON.
In addition, there will be a performance by a "supergroup of musicians" including Duff McKagan and Slash (GUNS 'N' ROSES),Billy Corgan (THE SMASHING PUMPKINS),Fred Durst (LIMP BIZKIT),K.K. Downing (JUDAS PRIEST),Jake E. Lee (OZZY OSBOURNE),Wolfgang Van Halen (VAN HALEN, MAMMOTH WVH),Andrew Watt, Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS),David Ellefson (MEGADETH),Vernon Reid (LIVING COLOUR),Whitfield Crane (UGLY KID JOE),David Draiman (DISTURBED),Frank Bello (ANTHRAX),Jonathan Davis (KORN),Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM),Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE),Rudy Sarzo (OZZY OSBOURNE, QUIET RIOT),Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (ANTHRAX),Sleep Token II (SLEEP TOKEN) and Papa V Perpetua (GHOST).
Ozzy — who hasn't played a full show since late 2018 — announced his last-ever performance on February 5.
Proceeds from the "Back To The Beginning" show will support Cure Parkinson's, the Birmingham Children's Hospital and Acorn Children's Hospice, a Children's Hospice supported by Aston Villa.
The original lineup of BLACK SABBATH last performed in 2005. Since then, SABBATH has played in partial reunions but never in its original lineup.
The legendary BLACK SABBATH frontman was diagnosed in 2003 with Parkin 2 — a very rare genetic form of Parkinson's. During a TV appearance in January 2020, the singer disclosed that he was 'stricken" with the disease which occurs when the nerve cells of the body degenerate and levels of dopamine are reduced. Dopamine is an essential chemical that is produced by these nerve cells which send signals to different parts of the brain to control movements of the body.
Ozzy's health issues, including suffering a nasty fall and dislodging metal rods placed in his spine following a quad-bike accident in 2003, as well as catching COVID-19 three years ago, forced him to cancel some of his previously announced tours.
While Osbourne's health issues forced him to scrap most of his live appearances, the musician said he would return if his condition improved.
Despite his health problems, Osbourne has performed a couple of times in the last three years, including at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in August 2022 and at the NFL halftime show at the season opener Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills game in September 2022.
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12 мар 2025
REIGNING PHOENIX MUSIC Unveils New Label Imprint PERCEPTION, Announces First Signing SERIOUS BLACK
 Reigning Phoenix Music proudly introduces Perception, its latest label imprint. Following the success of ROAR, a sub-label dedicated to emerging talents and artists, Perception is set to provide a strong foundation for regionally and stylistically leading bands with high growth potential.
Jochen Richert, managing director of RPM Europe, shares his vision for Perception: “My responsibilities at Reigning Phoenix Music have often taken me away from what I love most – working directly with bands, nurturing their growth, and helping them reach their full potential. With Perception, I now can dive back into artist development, which I’m truly excited about. Of course, my main mission remains unchanged: to help Reigning Phoenix Music to become one of the leading metal labels in the world.”
To celebrate the birth of RPM’s new sibling, Perception proudly announces its first signing – one that perfectly embodies the label’s core value of passion, professionalism, and ambition: Serious Black.
More than ten years of Serious Black and highly melodic power metal with the license to create hymns: since 2014, the band led by bassist Mario Lochert, have been delighting fans not only by releasing six studio albums so far, but also by frequently playing much-lauded concerts and festival appearances, and that’s why Perception is even more proud to begin its journey by signing such a well-known act.
“We’re really happy, and we couldn’t have found a better partner than Reigning Phoenix Music as they greatly combine expertise and experience. We have a comfortable new surrounding, and re-connecting with old companions makes this new union even more special to us: Everything that belongs together comes together over and over again,” comments founding member Lochert.
Jochen Richert as Perception A&R adds: “Mario and Dominik [Sebastian; guitars] are incredibly passionate about Serious Black, and that’s exactly what it takes to elevate this band even further. They are built for the top tier of power metal – with outstanding songwriting and an electrifying stage presence already in place. We’ll make sure they reach the level they truly belong to: the very top of the scene!”
On the heels of their latest album Rise Of Akhenaton [2024], Serious Black are celebrating their 10th anniversary with an own headline tour this spring, following an enormously successful European run alongside Sonata Arctica, Firewind as well as Tungsten. Special guests Autumn Bride, Dragony and Rigorious will complete the line-up for the upcoming festivities.
Serious Black bassist Mario Lochert states: “Ten years, six charting albums, over 250 concerts, festival shows and gigs worldwide. A look back that lets me indulge in many memories. Personally, I’m really looking forward to this tour, not only because it’s our birthday headline tour, but also because old friends like Autumn Bride, Dragony [March 18-30], and Rigorious [March 11-18] will be joining us on this tour with new albums at their hands. Get your tickets and spend an unforgettable power metal party full of hard riffs and hymns with us!”
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12 мар 2025
DEVIN TOWNSEND: 'I've Invested Everything I Have Into Making 'The Moth''
 On Thursday, March 27, 2025 and Friday, March 28, 2025, the lifelong work of visionary musician, composer, and producer Devin Townsend will unfold in De Oosterpoort in Groningen, where he will perform the rock opera "The Moth" together with the Noord Nederlands Orkest (North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra) symphony orchestra.
This show is exclusive and will only be performed in Groningen; it will not be staged anywhere else in the world.
Townsend is renowned for his groundbreaking fusion of metal, progressive rock, and ambient music. With a career spanning more than 30 years, he has pushed the boundaries of musical genres and collaborated with world-famous orchestras, establishing an unparalleled artistic legacy.
For his latest project, he has teamed up with the Noord Nederlands Orkest and composed "The Moth", a "rock opera" he has been working on for years, which represents his lifelong ambition. "The Moth" tells the story of the human experience from birth to death, comparable to the transformation of a caterpillar into a moth. It symbolizes the human quest for meaning and offers perspectives on the fear of death through analogy and narrative. Ever since Townsend witnessed large musicals such as "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Phantom Of The Opera" in the 1970s, he has seen this project as his calling.
"The Moth" has been in the making for over a decade, and Townsend has been building towards it for 30 years. Now, he is ready to bring it to life. He will share the stage at De Oosterpoort in Groningen with no less than seventy musicians from the Noord Nederlands Orkest, a sixty-member choir, and his own band, which includes Mike Keneally, Joseph Stephenson, Darby Todd and James Leach.
In a new video message, Devin stated about the upcoming event (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Devin Townsend, and I'm here to talk to you about my upcoming performances of my opera, if you wanna look at it that way, rock opera, something like that, called 'The Moth'. I have been working on this for ten years.
"Now let me tell you how it started. I had to start by figuring out, I had to start taking classes. 'Cause when I was a teen, when I was a kid, my dream was always to make sort of a modern opera, in a way, with modern themes, modern instrumentation, and a lot of the things that I had been fascinated by in my youth — 'Phantom Of The Opera', 'Jesus Christ Superstar', 'Paint Your Wagon', all those sorts of things, were really impactful to me as a youth because the emotions were so broad that it was easy for me to understand. It's always very obvious when you're watching these sorts of things when something is happy, when something is sad. And I had to start from the very beginning, 10 years ago, learning how to write, how to navigate the logistics of and how to deliver on time an opera, I guess, in some sense. Starting with I had to take lessons in composition, because although I know how to write music, of course, I never knew theory. So when I was working with orchestras, for example, with smaller projects like 'Deconstruction' or even the one in Bulgaria. I had to learn the language so I wasn't wasting time because it's so expensive to work with these choirs and orchestras. So, I started taking lessons about 10 years ago. And I finally figured out how I could pull off making this uncompromised musical statement with hundreds of people — creatively no boundaries, nobody telling me what to do. The only way I could do that was to do it myself. So, my friends, I've invested everything I have into making 'The Moth', into making this facility so I could make 'The Moth', in order to get the best players, in order to get the best orchestras, in order to get the best artists.
"For much of my life I've been wanting to do these things, which is such epic scale, but then whenever I say to somebody, like, 'Hey, this is what I want,' they said, 'Well, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD' or 'you're a heavy metal musician,'" he continued. "And up to this point, there's been a lot of doubting that my capacity to not only pull it off musically, but also logistically — it requires a certain type of mentality, I believe. And so in the beginning, when I was proposing making operas and making these kind of heavy metal, crazy orchestral things, the reaction to that from people was, 'Well, we don't feel that you are capable of doing that,' or, 'We don't feel like you're ready to do that', or, 'It requires a level of expertise specific to this type of musical vocation to pull it off, which you don't have. Therefore, if you wanna do it, you have to hire somebody for exorbitant amounts of money.' So, I said, 'Fuck it,' and I put together a team of about 12 people, and I have funded it independently from the very beginning to the very end. And next month, we debut 'The Moth' with the incredible North Netherlands National Symphony And Choir, the NNO. They proposed this to me about three years ago. They said, 'Listen, if you're serious about this, we're one of the most elite orchestras in Europe. And if you're serious about it, we're willing to take a chance on your vision.' And so I said, 'Let's do it.' And I built a place to make 'The Moth'. I put together teams so I can delegate each aspect of it — choirs go to this team, orchestra goes to this team, scoring goes to this team, orchestrating goes to this team, the band themselves. Everything needed to be sort of logistically set up ahead of time so that you could have a strategy about it. Because, for example, trying to deliver the choir parts in a timely fashion, the way that it ended up happening is the choir required the delivery of their musical scores prior to the orchestra. And the orchestra needed to get it prior to the band getting it. So I had to write the music with teams in different locations at different times, and it's almost like concurrently five jigsaw puzzles. And the hope is that when they're all together, it will create the vision that I've been following for so long.
"'The Moth' is a story, I guess, about transformation, obviously, steeped in sort of existential nebulousness, which is — I don't even know if 'nebulousness' is a word, but that's kind of where I've been for my whole life. And when somebody said, 'Okay, do you wanna do this 'Moth' project?' At first, I had this vision of it being this kind of obscene thing, but then the more I started getting into it, the more I recognized that the format could yield unbelievably intense things.
"So the people involved with this. My god. So the band — it's the band I've been touring with: Darby [Todd], James [Leach], Mike Keneally, new guitar player Pete Rinaldi. Involved with this, I managed to work with an incredible orchestrator, Joseph Stephenson. I worked with Steve Vai… So he's helped with the intermission. I've got artists from all over the world, different time zones, putting together 'The Moth'. We tracked the drums in Gothenburg two months ago."
Devin added: "Here's the thing with 'The Moth'. To do this, I had to write it. and then the shows, originally, when I had proposed doing this, the people who were involved with this were kind of on the fence about whether or not it was gonna work, and there was lots of talk about liability and all these sorts of things, like, 'If this doesn't sell by March, you're liable for however much.' … And so I was, like, 'All right, let's try it.' And so we put it up and you guys rocked it for us. Holy cow. So the two shows sold out in four minutes, I believe. And then they said, 'Well, we can't do the VIPs,' but the VIPs sold out in seven minutes. This is all fantastic votes of confidence — not necessarily for me, but for the nature of this type of creative endeavor in the future. I've got these teams together, and if this works, my thought is I could do one of these every couple of years, and just creatively completely free, completely uncompromised, with the best players, the best work, the best sound. And up to this point I haven't been able to do it because no one wanted to take a chance. So I funded it myself, the show sold, we're good to go.
"Now here's the thing: the cost of this — if we're lucky, if we're lucky, we would break even on these shows. Even though it's sold out, even though the VIPs. So what does one do when one is debuting live a record of such scope that nothing that I've done even holds a candle to the scope of this. But usually what happens is you release a record and you can meticulously mix it and master it and massage it so that there's no rough edges and everything, and then you put it out and then you perform it. So what was proposed to me was, we do it the other way around. After ten years of writing this, the debut of 'The Moth' is actually this live performance. And what that throws into the works is just staggering amounts of logistical problems. It has to be recorded, mixed, completed lyrically, orchestrally, score, the band. Everybody has to know it. Everybody has to have the redundancy and the click tracks and all these things going so that you can have the orchestra. And the orchestra has a different click than the band. And the band has a different click than the visuals. And how you put that together logistically to debut that, without an album. So the first that anybody's going to hear of 'The Moth' is this show. So they proposed to me — because prior to this, we weren't gonna break even on the shows, which is fine. I'm cool. We haven't broken even for 10 years — on 'The Moth'. And someone proposed, 'Well, what would you think about doing a livestream?' And I thought, well, in the past, the livestreams have been so janky. And without control over the sound, it's like all of a sudden you got one loud kick drum and the guitars are wrong. And the nuance of this is so subtle that the proposition of doing a live stream of this was absurd to me. However, the more I started thinking about it, I thought, 'Well, fuck it, if we're actually debuting this' — what's the term my grandfather always used to say? God hates a coward. So we decided, I decided, we decided to do the livestream of the second night. Now, here's the thing with this live stream. I was, like, 'I don't wanna do it poorly. I don't want this to not be awesome.'
"So my plan for this is because of the amount of logistics and the amount of work — hundreds of people, literally, and I think there's probably a hundred and fifty people on stage of this too. So 'The Moth' is meant to be a vocal showcase, it's meant to be a kind of vocal tour de force, in a sense. I will be doing an acoustic, and with the band, augmentation of 'The Moth', so you've got a full two hours of entertainment. 'The Moth' itself, words can't describe how much work has gone into this.
"I forget how many tickets we have to sell for the thing to break even, for the livestream. I'm not even talking about the show, 'cause the live stream, it's all cross collateralized. So the livestream and the show and the merch and the VIPs, they all go to this pot with this choir, with this orchestra, with the visuals. We made this film. I've got 12 geniuses that I work with and we've been working on the stories and everything like this. And the first we're gonna hear from it is this livestream. And I forget how many tickets we have to sell for the livestream show we have to sell for the show to break even — something like 5,000. You know what? If it doesn't fucking break even, I don't care. I really don't. I'll figure it out. But it would be better if it did."
For more information on "The Moth" livestream, click here.
Townsend's career is one of many distinct eras. He's been the leader of STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, the lynchpin of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and the co-architect of country duo CASUALTIES OF COOL, all while maintaining his prolific and lauded solo project. More recently he completed work on "PowerNerd", a succinct but still progressive record that pulls from its mastermind's childhood love of vintage rock.
Townsend has an amazing variety in his musical style. He works in ranges of hard rock, progressive metal, new age and ambient. As a solo artist he has had a lineup of various artist working on his albums sporting his infinite variety.
When he revisited his music career, it was with the founding of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT. The project began with a series of four albums each written in a different style and released between 2009-2011. Afterwards he kept to the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and keeps releasing under this name.
Across all Townsend's bands and projects, he has released more than two dozen studio albums and several live ones. Similar in all of these are his versatile vocal delivery that ranges from screaming to an opera-esque singing. The same diversity appears in his writing. Townsend's musical style has roots in metal but draws elements from other genres into the material. Each album is written to express different aspects of his personality. | 0 | |
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12 мар 2025
WHITESNAKE: 'Access All Areas: Live' Eight-CD Box Set Due In April
 Rhino Records will release WHITESNAKE's "Access All Areas: Live" on April 25.
Consisting of six live shows across eight CDs, "Access All Areas: Live" captures the raw excitement of WHITESNAKE in full flight, live on stage. Kicking off with "Live... In The Still Of Night", legendary rock singer David Coverdale is joined by Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach on lead guitar, longtime WHITESNAKE drummer Tommy Aldridge plus Marco Mendoza on bass. Recorded at London's iconic Hammersmith Apollo in 2004, the set includes the huge MTV hits "Is This Love", "Here I Go Again" and "Still Of The Night".
"Live... In The Shadow Of The Blues" on CD2 and CD3 was recorded on WHITESNAKE's 2006 world tour, and delves back to WHITESNAKE's earliest days with "Don't Break My Heart Again" and "Take Me With You". "Made In Japan" finds the band headlining the huge Loud Park festival in Japan in 2011, across CDs 3 and 4. "Made In Britain" unsurprisingly captures the band on David's home turf whilst on the "Forevermore" tour in 2011. "The World Record" was also captured in 2011 on the "Forevermore" tour, featuring hits such as "The Deeper The Love", as well as newer stage favorite "Can You Hear The Wind Blow".
This eight-disc set ends right back where David musical odyssey started, with "The Purple Tour". Now joined by lead guitarist Joel Hoekstra, WHITESNAKE power through songs from the earliest days of David's career with DEEP PURPLE, including "Burn", "The Gypsy", "Mistreated" and "Soldier Of Fortune".
Note: all material was previously released in the following sets:
* "Live... In The Still Of The Night" DVD/CD (Disc 1)
* "Live... In The Shadow Of The Blues" 2CD (Discs 2+3)
* "Made In Japan" 2CD/DVD (Discs 4+5)
* "Made In Britain"/"The World Record" 2CD (Discs 6+7)
* "The Purple Tour" (CD/DVD) (Disc 8)
In October 2023, Coverdale told SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" about WHITESNAKE's future plans: "Well, my band and I are in touch all the time. There is still a WHITESNAKE and there are still offers coming. I can't entertain anything until I get my physical aspect together.
"I had a fall recently, which I don't think helped my… I've got two torn rotator cuffs, which would certainly compromise my performance," he explained. "But arthritis, all this kind of stuff's kicking in.
"My heart goes out to Steven [Tyler] after the [2023 AEROSMITH tour] cancelation. It's so awful, getting older and having this burden of responsibility to try to be as good as you can so you don't disappoint anybody. And I know how he feels and I sent my love to him through our friends, mutual friends.
"But I can't commit to anything until I know how my health is," David added. "The last thing I wanna do is go on tour and have to do what happened last year, which was come home, tail between my legs. It was heartbreaking. And being sick for a year didn't really help matters."
In May 2023, Coverdale told Rockonteurs about his respiratory infection: "That was really bad. When these things get on your cords, that just closes you down entirely.
"I spent a fortune keeping the guys [in my band] as safe as we could; we called it the 'COVID bubble.' Private jet wherever we went. And still COVID came in and took some of the crew out. It was really challenging."
Coverdale also shot down the suggestion that the WHITESNAKE farewell tour will drag on for many years to come. "I know contemporaries of mine that have been doing a farewell tour for 20 years," he said. "That's not it. I'm [73]. It's a number that I see and go, 'Really?' Because most of the time I certainly don't feel like that kind of age that would be the perspective we had growing up, when 20 looked old, 25 was ancient. 30? You're kidding. It's just fascinating to look at."
On June 28, 2022, WHITESNAKE scrapped three shows on its spring/summer European tour due to Coverdale's infection of the sinus and trachea. Three days later, the rest of the trek was also called off. At the time, David blamed the decision on "continuing health challenges, doctor's orders, and our concern for everyone's health and safety."
David was not the first member of WHITESNAKE to fall ill during the group's spring/summer 2022 European tour. Guitarist Reb Beach missed several shows on the trek in June 2022 after being "under the weather." On June 25, 2022, WHITESNAKE canceled its show at the Rock Imperium festival in Spain due to the fact that drummer Tommy Aldridge "went down" and "was bad enough at the time to have missed the first show ever in his career," according to Coverdale.
In April 2023, Coverdale told "Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern" regarding the possibility of WHITESNAKE resuming its farewell tour in 2024: "It's not really a professional decision. It's literally a health decision.
"[In 2022] it took me seven months to get rid of a sinus infection that went so deep into my body… And then we discovered a secondary one, which is why I had to cancel the U.S. tour," he explained. "So all of that appalling antibiotics I had for three months, all the damage it did to my system, was a waste of time because this other infection was canceling it out. So I had to go on to heavier medications and steroids, and at the same time ignoring a torn rotator cuff.
"When I was onstage with Steve Vai at Hellfest [in France in June 2022], which turned out to be the last WHITESNAKE show — hopefully not the last WHITESNAKE show [ever] — underneath my shirt, my shoulder was taped up like I was going into the arena to face another gladiator," Coverdale revealed. "And you couldn't really tell. And thank God I could still fling the mic stand around. But as soon as I got signed off back in January, the infection had gone, I realized that we had to sort out the shoulder, 'cause that had been of secondary importance — minor compared to this, 'Am I ever gonna be able to sing again?' That's a big deal. It's something you wake up and almost take for granted.
"So, I'm getting a lot of approaches [regarding Las] Vegas residencies. I'm not quite sure about that. I feel I owe Japan. I feel I owe the U.S. I feel I owe South America. 'Cause I've been pretty successful for 50 years, and you can't buy that. It's people who've supported you to be in this position. It was a personal choice. I didn't wanna do a video going, 'Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, brothers and sisters of the 'SNAKE, thank you for 50 years. I'm done.' I wanted to be there.
"I wanted to retire in 2020," David added. "I thought the appropriate age for the singer of WHITESNAKE to step down was 69. But, of course, bloody COVID came [and ruined those plans].
"We have three to five years of projects here at my studio. So I'm certainly not finished with music. But my health will dictate whether I can take on [a full tour]. 'Cause it's incredibly physically demanding for me. I don't wanna do a half-assed [tour], standing-there stuff. I love telling my stories and moving and working."
Also in April 2023, Coverdale told Ultimate Classic Rock that the illness that forced him off the road in 2022 was "the worst sinus infection I've ever had in my life. And as a singer, I know them like fucking relatives of mine," Coverdale said. "This was one of the ugliest illnesses I think I've [ever] had. For seven months, I was taking ever-increasingly strong antibiotics and horrifying prednisone steroids."
WHITESNAKE launched its farewell tour on May 10, 2022 at Dublin, Ireland's 3Arena. The band's 14-song set, which was part of a European tour with special guests EUROPE and co-headliners FOREIGNER, marked WHITESNAKE's inaugural performance with the group's two latest two additions, keyboardist, guitarist and backing vocalist Dino Jelusick and O'Callaghan.
Coverdale had both his knees replaced with titanium in 2017 after suffering from degenerative arthritis. He later explained that he was in so much pain with arthritis in his knees that it hampered his ability to perform live.
Prior to the pandemic, WHITESNAKE had been touring in support of its latest album, "Flesh & Blood", which was released in May 2019 via Frontiers Music Srl. | +1 | |
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12 мар 2025
DESTRUCTION's SCHMIER Says He Is 'Still Excited' To Write New Thrash Metal Music: It's 'A Fantastic Experience'
 In a new interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal's Metal Global, DESTRUCTION bassist/vocalist Schmier was asked if he is surprised that the band is still going strong, more than four decades after DESTRUCTION's formation, even though he and his bandmates are not playing "pop" music. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yeah, that's true. It's underground music and it's not commercial metal. It's thrash metal. It's underground, basically. So, of course, it's surprising. And we also had ups and downs and our difficulties, but we've always been working hard — at least the last 24, 25 years — I've been working hard for keeping the band alive. And it wasn't always easy — lineup changes, record label changes. And also in the metal scene, the trends come and go. One day the press likes thrash metal; the next year they're writing, 'Oh, DESTRUCTION is writing the same album again and again.' And you have to fight for it. But the great thing is the fans been very faithful with us, sticking with us, and that's very motivating at the end, that the fans have been there supporting us for so many years. And that always kept us alive. And I think once you're a musician for so long, it's easy to be motivated because it's a great gift. Playing music for so long, we never thought we could do that. So after some years, you appreciate it a lot, what you do. And then the effort you put is just automatically there because you love what you do."
When Botas noted that part of the appeal of bands like DESTRUCTION is that they are "honest" with the music that they make and they don't try to change their sound to fit in with the trends, Schmier concurred. "Yeah, of course," he said. "I mean, 'stick to your guns' is an important rule I would give every band — even though some bands changed and they've been more successful afterwards. But we do what we can do best. And people sometimes ask, 'Don't you get bored of your music?' But I'm still excited to write, and I think the new [DESTRUCTION] album ['Birth Of Malice'] also proves that it's not boring to play thrash; it's still exciting. And we still love to write new music. Some bands, when they get older, they're, like, 'Ah, fuck writing.' And then it takes them five years or 10 years to write a new album. Not with us, because I think writing is still a fantastic experience. It's still exciting. And also when you get older, you still wanna prove that you can compete with the youngsters. Yeah, it's great. That's why we also wrote the song 'Destruction' on this new album as appreciation for the fans, because I wanna hear the fans sing live, when we play live, 'We are DESTRUCTION,' because they are DESTRUCTION as much as we are DESTRUCTION."
DESTRUCTION's 16th studio album, "Birth Of Malice" will be released on March 7 via Napalm Records.
Schmier is joined in DESTRUCTION's current lineup by guitarists Martin Furia and Damir Eskić, along with drummer Randy Black.
"Birth Of Malice" was recorded at Switzerland's Little Creek Studio by V.O. Pulver. Guitarist Martin Furia mixed and mastered the masterpiece at The Black Mancave in Hannover, Germany.
DESTRUCTION's massive career has seen many successes, with the band hitting stages at the world's biggest festivals around the world like Hellfest, Wacken Open Air, Graspop Metal Meeting and México Metal Fest.
DESTRUCTION, known as one of the "Teutonic Four", alongside KREATOR, SODOM and TANKARD, were reunited with the other three acts at the "Klash Of The Ruhrpott" concert on July 20, 2024 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
In August 2021, DESTRUCTION officially parted ways with founding guitarist Michael "Mike" Sifringer and replaced him with Martin Furia. The Argentinian-born, Belgian-based Furia is best known for his work as sound engineer and producer for such bands as NERVOSA and EVIL INVADERS.
Sifringer was the only member of DESTRUCTION to have remained constant throughout the band's career. Schmier appeared on DESTRUCTION's first three albums before exiting the band and being replaced by POLTERGEIST vocalist André Grieder. André's sole recorded appearance with DESTRUCTION was on the "Cracked Brain" album, which came out in 1990. Schmier rejoined DESTRUCTION in 1999.
DESTRUCTION 2025 is:
Schmier - Bass, Vocals
Martin Furia - Guitars
Randy Black - Drums
Damir Eskić - Guitars
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12 мар 2025
BRIAN 'HEAD' WELCH On Rejoining KORN In 2013: 'I Was Given A Second Chance To Be A Rock Star In A Healthy Way'
 In a brand new interview with Jackson, Mississippi's Rock 93.1 radio station, KORN guitarist Brian "Head" Welch — a former drug addict and reformed Christian — spoke about what it was like rejoining the band in early 2013, eight years after first leaving the group. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I was on tour with P.O.D. [in 2012] I was opening for them with my other band. And they had a festival and KORN was playing, [as was] EVANESCENCE, all these bands. My daughter was with me. She was 12. So I surprised her. I was, like, 'I'm gonna jump on P.O.D.'s bus and go to the festival,' because we had a day off. My band wasn't playing. P.O.D. tour just happened to go by that festival to play real quick. And we went in, and I was, like, 'This is crazy,' 'cause I hadn't really seen the guys. I'd seen Jonathan [Davis, KORN singer] a month before that. He came to watch me sing in my band. I'm, like, 'This is horrible. I can barely sing live and here's one of the best singers out there watching me.' And I was so nervous and embarrassed. But we hadn't seen each other in seven years or something, so we just cried and said hello. And then, at that festival, I was just gonna be kind of low key, maybe say hi to him after. But word got around that I was there, and I went and saw 'em. They said, 'Come do the meet-and-greet with us.' So I went and said hi to fans. And then they said, 'Play some songs with us.' I was, like, 'No, man. I don't remember all the parts. I need pedals.' And they said, 'Just play one. Play 'Blind' with us.' I was, like, 'Cool.' And I played it, and the whole place just… It was just this emotional thing led by Jonathan, 'cause he had his brothers that he knew since childhood on stage. So he broke down and told the crowd, 'I need a minute.' Then he came to me and said, 'If this is the last memory you gave me, thank you for this memory.' 'Cause he didn't think, 'Oh, this is it. He's coming back.' Or he didn't probably know if he wanted me back. But I left in such a horrible way that… It wasn't horrible — it was bitter. And we were all on drugs except Jonathan, which is funny, but were all on drugs or alcohol — we were all on both — and so when I left, it was really ugly. And so I felt it was closure to do that one show with them. And I'm, like, 'Okay, cool. I'm gonna go rough and tough it on the side and barely make it, and that's cool. And I'm good with that.' And I feel like that's what a lot of the people in the Bible did; they didn't have it all easy. And then I was at home and I remember just that Christ inside of you that came to reveal that."
Brian continued: "There's seasons in my life where I just go deep and I try to connect, when I have a lot of time off or whatever. And after all that stuff happened, I connected. And I remember I had this few weeks at home where he felt so close to me. And it was one of the longest seasons of experiencing that closeness with Christ. And that's when he unfolded things to me, like start breaking kind of religion off of me. Like, 'You don't have to do exactly what the disciples did in the Bible and make your life miserable.' And that's when Munky [James Shaffer, KORN guitarist] called me. And he said, 'Hey, we're doing a new album. No pressure. You wanna come down to see what happens? No expectation, nothing.' I was, like, 'Thank you, man, so much, but I feel like I wanna go this other way.' And he goes, 'If you change your mind, call us. It's good to see you.' And then I was at home for a few more days, and I remembered this guy from South Africa came to me in 2006 and he said there's gonna be a reconciliation with the guys. And he said there's gonna be a call from James. And I still have that recording to this day. Some guy that saw things. And so I didn't do it because of that, but it did make me curious — a lot more curious. I did it because I was just praying and I felt like God was, like… A lot of people, all they know is the horrible religion. There's mean street preachers outside of KORN concerts and a lot of fans just know that. Now what can I do to go show love? And so I start opening up, and boom. I called them. We agreed on all kinds of different things — there were just a few things we discussed. And there it was. And next thing you know, I'm in the studio writing with them, and we're looking at each other and I was, like, 'This is really gonna happen, huh?' And he was, like, 'Yeah, it's on. This is crazy.' And so I realized that a whole new door opened and my whole life was changed.'
Welch added: "And so going back into it — the last thing I'll say — I was so drunk and messed up when I left for years. I had to relearn what it was like to be on stage in that big a capacity tour and do a record, do press, start doing more TV, all that stuff. It was like I forgot the past. It was cloudy — it was very cloudy — 'cause I was so messed up. So it was, like, I was given a second chance to be a rock star in a healthy way. [I'm] very grateful."
Asked what the ripple effect has been since he rejoined KORN, Welch said: "It's just so clean around the atmosphere of KORN. We just have so much honor and respect for each other. It's, like, everybody listens to each other. Now Jonathan, as you know, is like the quarterback, so we follow his lead a lot. But me and James are all about the business part of it. Jonathan wants nothing to do with it. He's, like, 'You guys go do that. It's stressing me out.' But creatively, in the studio and everything, we all honor and work together. And if there's something that we need to change or do on the road or in the studio or something, even Jonathan, he'll hear us and listen. And we've just got massive respect. And Ray [Luzier], the drummer, he's just never a problem — ever. And [bassist] Fieldy's [Reginald Arvizu] been out of the band since, like, 2020, and he's just focusing on family. So we got this guy, [Roberto] 'Ra' Díaz, another amazing South American guy [with the] coolest accent ever. Very, very humble. And so it just feels really clean and mature. And it's all about this band that we created and keeping it going, growing it and rocking out with the fans. It's all about the fans. There's no groupies. There's no drugs. There's no partying backstage. Our drummer is the only one that drinks, and he drinks wine. He gets purple teeth every night at, like, 1 a.m. So that's as crazy as it gets. It's all about the show."
Welch chronicled his decision to leave KORN in his first book, 2008's "Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs, And Lived To Tell My Story".
Both Welch and Arvizu have had highly public, though separate, conversion experiences, ones that have been greeted with a certain amount of skepticism.
Fieldy's 2009 memoir, "Got The Life: My Journey Of Addiction, Faith, Recovery And Korn", detailed his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction during KORN's early years and how he became a born-again Christian to help get his life together and get sober.
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12 мар 2025
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11 мар 2025
CRADLE OF FILTH Releases Music Video For 'White Hellebore' From Upcoming 'The Screaming Of The Valkyries' Album
 Following CRADLE OF FILTH's acclaimed recent single "To Live Deliciously" and its exquisitely twisted music video, the Grammy Award-nominated extreme metal institution is back to give fans more of the sinful sounds they crave with "White Hellebore", another bewitching new single and music video.
Featured on CRADLE OF FILTH's upcoming 14th studio album, "The Screaming Of The Valkyries", which is due on March 21, 2025 via Napalm Records, "White Hellebore" is devilishly direct, juxtaposing traditional heavy metal with blasts of thrashing fury, then spinning back to operatic goth while remaining cohesive. The track's must-see new music video was directed by Shaun Hodson.
CRADLE OF FILTH mastermind Dani Filth says about the song and video: "The wintertime flower of the title reminds us scintillatingly of our own mortality, flourishing in seasons of dying light and cold, frozen earth. Blossoming in the shadows, this Hellebore's flowers draw us deeply into the stygian darkness with her. In context of this song, the White Hellebore of the title is an alluring woman not too distant in danger from the predatory black widow, fostering both hope and despair; a poison and an elixir, she is stunning to behold but ever deadly to taste.
"This video — reeking of Lovecraftian gothic horror — presents the White Hellebore as a movie starlet who survives the grave through her dalliances with dark occult forces, a necromantic mystic tryst that an overzealous morgue attendant encounters with terrifying results, complementing the song's unholy matrimony of melody and mayhem."
CRADLE OF FILTH reigns supreme as one of the most revered, formative and notorious names in music — from the depths of the extreme metal underground to the peaks of mainstream pop culture itself — and is responsible for breaking ground for many of today's top metal artists with their trademark mixture of blackened heaviness, macabre theatricality and scintillating gothic style.
On "The Screaming Of The Valkyries", Dani's recognizable scream and equally identifiable growl stand mightily alongside twin guitar attacks, symphonic flourishes and explosive rhythm section, implemented by drummer Martin "Marthus" Skaroupka, bassist Daniel Firth, guitarists Marek "Ashok" Smerda and Donny Burbage and keyboardist/vocalist Zoe Federoff.
After album opener "To Live Deliciously" hits immediately, second track "Demagoguery" blends dark beauty, blast beats and slaytanic groove as only CRADLE can combine. Across the album’s blunt and unforgiving yet inviting expanse, CRADLE summons the succulent flavors of classic albums like "Dusk… And Her Embrace" and "Cruelty And The Beast" with the galloping (but no less fierce) thunder of recent entries "Hammer Of The Witches" and "Existence Is Futile". Flashes of early metal influences coalesce with carnivorous glee into unapologetic death 'n' roll. "White Hellebore" is CRADLE OF FILTH at its most devilishly straightforward, juxtaposing traditional heavy metal with blasts of thrashing fury, spinning back to operatic goth without sounding disjointed. Anchored by arguably the most mournful melody in their catalog, "Non Omnis Moriar" ("I shall not wholly die") could be a cousin to PARADISE LOST or ANATHEMA, inverted through CRADLE's thorny prism. "You Are My Nautilus" is the darkest song IRON MAIDEN never wrote, spinning an epic tale with dueling guitars, while "Ex Sanguine Draculae" conjures "Dusk"-era atmosphere with imaginative new colors.
Produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk, England, "The Screaming Of The Valkyries" beckons the brave into a new era of CRADLE OF FILTH misadventure, celebrating massive melancholic melody, blackened thrash, and apocalyptic existential dread with a grinning smattering of unbridled revelry. "The Screaming Of The Valkyries" is a bloody dark love letter to the longtime legion of CRADLE OF FILTH faithful and a stunning entryway for fresh lambs to the sonic slaughter.
"The Screaming Of The Valkyries" track listing:
01. To Live Deliciously
02. Demagoguery
03. The Trinity Of Shadows
04. Non Omnis Moriar
05. White Hellebore
06. You Are My Nautilus
07. Malignant Perfection
08. Ex Sanguine Draculae
09. When Misery Was A Stranger
In a recent interview with U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine, Dani stated about "The Screaming Of The Valkyries": "It's got elements of everything we've done, really. It has a few head nods to works like 'Midian' and 'Dusk[... And Her Embrace]', especially in the atmosphere and the subject matter. It's also got a very brilliant production, courtesy of Scott Atkins."
Asked if there is any overarching theme to it, Dani said: "No, I wouldn't say so. They're tricky things, concept records. You have to have tunnel vision and you can't veer from that path. So this is just an album. It's not an album with filly bits attached, like intros and outros. No guest appearances. Just nine songs. It's still quite a lengthy running time, obviously. We can't write a short song to save our fucking lives."
Dani went on to say that CRADLE OF FILTH's collaboration with pop superstar Ed Sheeran won't be on "The Screaming Of The Valkyries" "because we don't want it to overshadow the record. But we are going to bring it out. Originally, everybody wanted us to bring it out to glorious fanfare but Ed's management weren't keen on that. We're not absolutely sure how it will emerge, but it's been done, mixed and it's sitting on the shelf somewhere… you know, virtually. And it's fucking fantastic. But only a handful of people have actually heard it. My mum hasn't even heard it."
Last November, Dani was asked by Portugal's Look Mag, CRADLE OF FILTH frontman Dani Filth why it was taking more than three years for him and his bandmates to release the follow-up to "Existence Is Futile" album. He responded: "[We've done] loads of tours. We were in the studio beginning the drums last May. But then we went and did all summer festivals. Then we had holidays — one holiday a year, which we allow us to rejuvenate. Then I was recording with my friend in America. Then we went to South America and Mexico. Then we went, did a co-headline tour with DEVILDRIVER. Then we went back to the studio. Then our producer had a baby. Then it was Christmas, and we did more in the studio. Then we went on tour in Europe. Yeah, that's what happened. We've just been very, very busy.
"It was finished — it's been ready since July [2024], I think," Dani revealed. "We're having two more videos and singles before the album drops. Yeah, maybe even four; I'm not sure. It depends how well it goes. But yeah, there's a plan to a gameplan to everything."
Asked about the musical direction of the new CRADLE OF FILTH material, Dani said: "It's very hard to talk about it. I don't really wanna talk about it because I can't do it justice. Every album has a lot of things going on. It's just a very, very great record. It's the next stage of our evolutionary step as CRADLE OF FILTH, moving on from the [two new songs] we debuted on [the 2023 live album] 'Trouble And Their Double Lives'. It has elements of old-school CRADLE, elements of new-school CRADLE. It's catchy, it's fast, it's slow, it's romantic, it's heavy, it's theatrical."
In October, CRADLE OF FILTH released a new single, "Malignant Perfection", along with a music video directed by Vicente Cordero, who has previously worked with FILTER, DEVILDRIVER, IN FLAMES and BLACK VEIL BRIDES, among others.
In 2023, CRADLE OF FILTH released its first live album in over 20 years, the aforementioned "Trouble And Their Double Lives", via Napalm Records. The LP was recorded between 2014 and 2019 at different performances in the USA, Europe, Australia and beyond during the band's "Cryptoriana" world tour and dates following. Produced, mixed and mastered by Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studios, with recording captured by Danny B, the effort not only featured a slew of fan favorites encompassing the band's discography but also two bonus tracks and two entirely brand new songs, "She Is A Fire" and "Demon Prince Regent".
CRADLE OF FILTH will co-headline the 2025 edition of the North American "Chaos & Carnage" tour, featuring fellow co-headliners DYING FETUS, as well as FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, NE OBLIVISCARIS, UNDEATH, VOMIT FORTH and CORPSE PILE.
CRADLE OF FILTH is:
Dani Filth - Vocals
Marek "Ashok" Smerda - Guitars
Martin "Marthus" Skaroupka - Drums
Daniel Firth - Bass
Donny Burbage - Guitars
Zoe Federoff - Vocals, Keys
Photo credit: Jakub Alexandrowicz
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11 мар 2025
GRAND FUNK RAILROAD Co-Founder MARK FARNER Shares Lyric Video For New Single 'Anymore'
 Mark Farner, a founding member of GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, continues to elevate his sound in the latest single "Anymore" out now. Released with a companion lyric video, the song sees Farner firing on all cylinders with this anthemic chorus. "Anymore" is the third song from his new album, "Closer To My Home" and showcases the rocker's unmistakable Parker Fly guitar. The rebelliousness of the riffs go head-to-head with Farner's commanding lyrics. Farner sings with passion and resolve — with an outpouring undercurrent of love — in this reflective barn burner.
Co-written by Mark Slaughter (SLAUGHTER) and produced by Slaughter and Farner, "Closer To My Home" is available on vinyl and CD through Righteous Rock Records.
Having written more than 90 percent of the GRAND FUNK RAILROAD music catalog, Farner has always been known as the energetic driving force on stage, the engine that pulled the original GRAND FUNK RAILROAD to the top of the charts. From his soulful voice and power rock riffs, to fueling the FUNK with his atomic stage presence. His story and his imprint on music starts with Flint and since 1969 from his humble beginnings and a blue-collar outlook, Farner has captained a global crusade for love, peace and freedom and became a rock 'n' roll icon.
More than 60 years later, he commands the stage with the same intensity performing epic hits that defined a generation: "I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home)", "Bad Time", "Some Kind Of Wonderful", "Foot Stompin' Music", "Heartbreaker", "Rock & Roll Soul", "Locomotion", "Mean Mistreater" and "We're An American Band". MARK FARNER'S AMERICAN BAND continues to tour, celebrating the 55th anniversary of the ground-breaking hit "I'm Your Captain (Closer To Home)" .
Farner's first years in music were with the bands TERRY KNIGHT AND THE PACK and THE BOSSMEN. When GRAND FUNK RAILROAD formed in 1969, they named the group after the Grand Trunk & Western Railroad that runs through Flint. Like a Spartan, Farner was intent on bringing rock destined for arenas. What began as rehearsals at Flint's Federation of Musicians Union Hall led to some of rock music's watershed moments. At the 1969 Atlanta International Pop Festival, they shared the stage with rock luminaries such as LED ZEPPELIN, Janis Joplin and CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL. The same year they formed — 1969 — the band further defied expectations by releasing two albums (via Capitol Records) in a four-month period. Farner wrote all but two songs from "On Time" and the platinum-selling "Grand Funk". He said they wanted to take advantage of the meteoric rise that was building in terms of the band's popularity.
"It wasn't much pressure because the songs were coming fast," Farner said. "I had nothing but time for songs."
By 1970, Farner's songs were pivotal to the band's success. The epic composition "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)" became an anthem for Vietnam War veterans and audiences alike. Farner would later perform the iconic song at the Vietnam Memorial Wall, on the 25th Anniversary of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Farner also received the Vietnam Veterans of American Presidents Award for Excellence in the Arts.
In July 1971, the trio sold out Shea Stadium in New York; 55,000 tickets were sold in a record 72 hours — besting THE BEATLES' previous record.
The Farner-penned composition "Bad Time" was GRAND FUNK's last Top 10 single, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in June 1975. Although it never topped the charts, the song was the most played tune on radio that year due to demand.
Farner is a three-time Michigan Rock And Roll Legends Hall Of Fame member — inducted as a solo member in 2015 and an inductee as part of GRAND FUNK RAILROAD and TERRY KNIGHT AND THE PACK.
GRAND FUNK laid the groundwork for such bands as FOREIGNER, JOURNEY, VAN HALEN and BON JOVI with its signature hard driving sound, soulful vocals, muscular instrumentation and forceful pop melodies. The fact that GRAND FUNK's legacy still reigns over the classic rock landscape fifty years after its 1969 birth in Flint, Michigan is a testament to the group's influence and staying power. Mega-hits "We're An American Band", "I'm Your Captain/Closer To Home", "Locomotion" and "Some Kind Of Wonderful" still receive continuous airplay on classic rock radio. "We're An American Band" has received notoriety in recent years being used in movie soundtracks and in television/radio advertising. The huge hit was featured in a General Motors national TV ad campaign and in Disney's animated feature film "The Country Bears". "We're An American Band" was featured in the Cuba Gooding Jr. film "Radio", and in the swash buckler "Sahara" starring Matthew McConaughey. | +1 | |
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11 мар 2025
GLENN DANZIG Rules Out New DANZIG And MISFITS Albums, But Says Standalone Singles Are A Possibility
 In a new interview with Abe Kanan of the 98 Rock radio station, Glenn Danzig was asked about the fact that he is now playing sporadic live shows with both DANZIG and the MISFITS. Refencing the fact that MISFITS have been active on the live front since the initial comeback performance by Danzig, Jerry Only and Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein at the 2016 Riot Fest, Glenn said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It worked out that way for a reason, I guess. Everything happens for a reason — that's how I think — and so when it's meant to happen, it happens. And so it ended up happening, and people should enjoy it while we're still doing it, because I've always said, when I can't do it anymore, I won't go on there and do it. You know what I mean? I'm not gonna go up there and pretend to play and have tapes or whatever. I'm not gonna do that. So if it ever becomes that, where physically or vocally I can't do it, I won't do it. So, people should go check it out now, 'cause you never know what's gonna happen. The world could end tomorrow. It's a crazy world right now."
When Kanan noted that DANZIG's songs might be harder to sing, but the MISFITS shows probably "take more energy", Glenn said: "The DANZIG songs have a greater vocal range than the MISFITS songs. So, yeah, the DANZIG songs are more difficult to sing, that's for sure."
Asked if he can ever foresee a new MISFITS album coming out, or a new song, Glenn said: "Maybe a song. Not an album." As for a new DANZIG album, Glenn said: "No. [Laughs] Look, people now just wanna download your stuff for free, and they don't understand that it costs money to go in a studio and record a record. So it's not really a great business model to go and record a record and then not be able to recoup your money that you spent making the record. So, with DANZIG, it might be like the MISFITS — maybe I'll record a song or two and just release it, and it won't cost that much."
He continued: "In the beginning, the MISFITS only released singles. We couldn't afford to put out an album. But a lot of the punk bands, that's how it was — you couldn't afford to do an album, especially if you were underground. You weren't on a big label, [so] you could only afford to do a single. So maybe I'll do that for DANZIG, and maybe we'll do it for the MISFITS. We'll see."
During a recent appearance on Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show, Glenn spoke about DANZIG's upcoming string of rare live shows on the U.S. West Coast, set to take place in late March. Support on the trek, which will include cities DANZIG has not played in many years, will come from DOWN, ABBATH and CRO-MAGS.
Asked if the upcoming dates will be all that DANZIG will do this year, Glenn said: "I don't really like going on tour. As you can see, I'm only doing six shows. So just trying to get me to go and do a bunch of shows — I don't mind doing a one-off here or there or whatever, but doing a bunch of shows, riding around on the bus, I've said it before… I know that we had to make up a Phoenix show last time that had to get canceled because we there was a bus shortage. And so basically in order to get a bus, we had to move all our first dates on the tour to the end of the tour. And there wasn't an available venue in Phoenix that time period. We'll make up the Phoenix show. And then we had a lot of fans asking why we haven't come up to the big Northwest and San Francisco. So we're trying to make that up. And it'll be it for a while."
Danzig also talked about the changes in touring since his early days, saying: "Well, everything's more expensive. The last time I went out — I think it was 2022 or 2023, again just a handful of shows — and prices on buses and gas had just gone [way up]. And then this last time we went out in 2023, they went up three times what we normally pay. And this time it's even crazier. So, I think it's also become really hard for a lot of bands to go out there and tour. I've said it before — a young band just going out there, they would have to go out in a van, well, kind of how we did back in the day with DANZIG and SAMHAIN and the MISFITS. I mean, we would go out in a van. It was all we could afford."
Asked if he enjoyed touring in a van at that time, Glenn said: "No. No one loves being in a van with a bunch of other people and a limited amount of space. I'd have to be driving, too. A lot of times we'd have the stick shift, and me and maybe one other person in the van would know how to drive a shift. So I'd have to drive most of the time also. You're driving and you're loading equipment in and you're doing everything, pretty much."
He added: "But anyway, I'm looking forward to these shows. It's been a while. And hopefully all the fans will be digging it. And I'm sure they'll have a great time. The lineup is insane. So, I don't know what else we can do except come out there and knock you on your ass."
Asked if there is any new DANZIG music on the horizon, Glenn said: "No." He went on to clarify that he is "not even focused on touring," explaining that he is "just doing six shows. And if that's touring, then what I used to do must have been mega touring," he said. "I mean, we used to go out for three, four, five, six months at a time."
Circling back to the possibility of new music, Glenn said: "The whole music thing and recording and everything, it's just changed dramatically where people really don't buy physical product anymore. They just wanna download it for free online. So there's really no incentive to new music, unless I'm in the studio and I do something and I wanna give it away for free to everybody. I don't know if that's a great business model."
Asked if he still enjoys writing music, Glenn said: "Yeah, of course. But I write lots of different stuff.
"I don't see the music industry changing at all. So I don't know if I'm ever gonna record again, at least DANZIG stuff," he admitted. "Maybe at some point. I don't know right now."
DANZIG tour dates with DOWN, ABBATH and CRO-MAGS:
March 21 - Las Vegas, NV - The Virgin Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas
March 22 - Lincoln, CA - Thunder Valley Casino Resort
March 25 - Seattle, WA - Wamu Theater
March 26 - Portland, OR - Moda Center-Theatre of the Clouds
March 29 - Los Angeles, CA - Kia Forum
March 30 - Phoenix, AZ - Arizona Financial Theatre
DANZIG's latest album, "Black Laden Crown", came out in May 2017 via Evilive Records/Nuclear Blast Entertainment.
Danzig released a collection of Elvis Presley covers, "Danzig Sings Elvis", in April 2020 and has been focusing on making films, including "Death Rider In The House Of Vampires" and his feature film directorial debut, "Verotika".
When it debuted at the Cinepocalypse festival in Chicago in 2019, "Verotika" was compared by some reviewers to Tommy Wiseau's "The Room", the so-bad-it's-amazing drama which is considered one of the worst movies ever made.
Glenn has been talking about the end of his touring career since at least 2015. At that time, he told Cleveland Scene: "I love being on stage and that's the great part of touring. I'll always do that. It's the bouncing around on a bus. That's the part I hate."
When DANZIG, the band, grew out of the MISFITS/SAMHAIN lineage in 1987, Glenn went into the new project with even grander ambitions and a long-term design. Between 1977 and 1987, the MISFITS' horror-punk morphed into the darker, occult-steeped SAMHAIN. When producer and record mogul Rick Rubin showed interest in signing SAMHAIN to his Def Jam label and producing their first record, the band yet again evolved, and DANZIG was born. | +1 | |
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Iron Maiden
