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M.I.GOD. Parts Ways With Guitarists And Bassist; New Members On Board

Max Chemnitz, the frontman and founder of German prog metallers M.I.GOD., has checked in with the following update:

"Changes are part of life and so M.I.GOD. has also experienced such changes. It is with great pleasure that we would like to announce new members to the band.

For the recently quit Dan (Heß / guitars) and Mick (Steger / bass), who want to revive their old band Dieversity, and Uli (Holzermer / guitars), who wants to shorten his musical efforts in the future and therefore only wants to swing the string axe at Silverlane, we found more than worthy replacements within only a few weeks. The new musicians will be introduced to you soon.

We wish Dan, Mick and Uli all the best and much success with their projects. Meanwhile, M.I.GOD. is more alive than ever! With success and having a blast, we have already rocked the first show together last weekend. We are all extremely happy about the new formation, eager to play, and ready to take the band to the next level with fresh accents and a new groove... the first harbingers will be served to you in just a few days."

For information on M.I.GOD. go to this location.

Photo by Daniela Adelfinger

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THE RAVEN AGE Perform Live Acoustic Versions Of "Fleur De Lis" And "The Day The World Stood Still" (Video)

The Raven Age recently stopped by Hot Topic HQ to perform an acoustic set. Check out clips of "Fleur De Lis" and "The Day The World Stood Still".

The Raven Age have announced that to finish off what has been an incredible year so far they will be putting on a special one-off headline show in London for their UK fans. On Friday, December 13th they will bring Noctem Mortis – Night Of Death – to The Dome in Tufnell Park, and fans can expect a theatrical, Black Death-inspired show where they’ll be able to experience The Raven Age at their ambitious best. Expect drama, mystery, suspense and surprises!

George Harris comments: "2019 has been a whirlwind of a year for us. The fan reaction from 'Conspiracy' has been above and beyond what we'd hoped for and it's well and truly given new members MJ and Tony a warm welcome to The Raven Age family. To have that followed by an unforgettable headline tour around UK and Europe, everything feels like it's been turned up a notch.

“We can't wait to show you all what we have in the pipeline for our final show of 2019. What better way to round off a brilliant year for TRA than a headline gig in London....on Friday 13th?"

They have also shared an animated lyric video for the track "Seventh Heaven", which is lyrically inspired by the historical notion - the Aureole - and finding resolve in life. George explains, “'Seventh Heaven' was written about finding a purpose. It’s easy to get yourself into a rut and become comfortable with that. Sometimes you need something to come along that makes you realise you can be better. When you think about all the things that needed to happen to lead you to that particular moment, it’s almost like a miracle."

Watch the video below.

The track features on Conspiracy which has now surpassed 5million+ streams and marks a new era of The Raven Age - revived and reenergised, with fantastic support from leading metal publications across the globe, and ready to scale new heights across the globe.

Newest member, vocalist Matt James has firmly cemented himself as part of the family alongside co-founder George Harris (guitar), Matt Cox (bass), Jai Patel (drums) and new guitarist Tony Maue (guitar) after receiving high praise for his powerful vocal abilities on Conspiracy and the live stage. Next week he will be leading the band as they start their run as support to metal legends Iron Maiden on a three month tour of stadiums and arenas across North and South America.

On return the band will then head straight back out with Alter Bridge and Shinedown on their European tour this November, before exiting 2019 on a high with the London date.

For a full list of upcoming tour dates and tickets visit this location.

UK-based melodic metal band The Raven Age, featuring Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris's son George Harris, released their sophomore album, Conspiracy, in March 2019. Named after a collective of ravens, Conspiracy is a cryptic soundtrack to the immersive fantasy world that the combined minds of bandmates Matt James (vocals), George Harris (guitar), Tony Maue (guitar), Matt Cox (bass) and Jai Patel (drums) have created. A world that delves into history’s myths and legends, with the stories re-told through their music and imagery. Clues left within their artwork and lyrics connect everything together to be part of a bigger story, pointing to what may later come to pass for The Raven Age.

Conspiracy is an inventive, mature and thrilling body of work that’s full of twists and tangents that carry the excitement from start to finish.

Conspiracy tracklisting:

"Bloom Of The Poison Seed"
"Betrayal Of The Mind"
"Fleur De Lis"
"The Day The World Stood Still"
"Stigmata"
"Surrogate"
"Seventh Heaven"
"Forgotten World"
"The Face That Launched A Thousand Ships"
"Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier"
"Scimitar"
"Grave Of The Fireflies"

"The Day The World Stood Still" video:

"Fleur De Lis" lyric video:

"Betrayal Of The Mind" video:

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LITA FORD's Long-Awaited New Album Is 'Almost Done'

Lita Ford has confirmed to Rockin' Metal Revival in a new interview that she is putting the finishing touches on her long-awaited new solo album. "Well, I don't even wanna talk about it yet," she said (hear audio below). "Because it's almost done, it's almost ready to find a home — we need to find a home for it. But I really just wanna wait, because I want the record company to do a video and I wanna make a big announcement on it, because it's just so cool. And I'm so excited about it. But I don't wanna give it away yet."

Earlier this year, Lita told The Metal Voice that the follow-up to 2012's "Living Like A Runaway" album was once again being helmed by guitarist/producer Gary Hoey, who contributes some guitar playing to the disc, alongside the rest of Ford's backing band, which continues to consist of guitarist Patrick Kennison, drummer Bobby Rock and bassist Marty O'Brien.

"It's a concept album," Lita said. "We have to keep the songs consistent so they all work together."

Although Ford declined to reveal the specifics of the concept, she confirmed that the LP will include a song called "Monsters", which was inspired by infamous cult leaders like Charles Manson and David Koresh. "It's just really dark and nasty stuff — brainwashing people and all the stuff [Koresh] did, and got all those people to drink Kool-Aid," she said. "But then again, it could be someone like your attorney, or it could be someone like your mom who is the monster in your life. It could be your manager. You never know who the monster in your life is gonna turn out to be."

Last year, Ford told KBACK Radio that she "was going through a real hard time in my life" during the making of "Living Like A Runaway", "and music was my outlet. I dumped everything into my music, because I didn't wanna start drinking or doing drugs or hurting myself in any other way, so I just rocked out — I put everything into my music, and it really shows in the songs and the lyrics of that album," she said. "They are true — it's a true story, that entire album. But the next album that we're doing is something that I've had in the can for quite a while and it's resurfaced in my life and I'm carrying on with it and I'm making it come to life, and it's really awesome. I don't wanna give it away yet, but I think people are going to be happy with it. It's very riffy, very memorable choruses — stuff that sticks in your head with the riffs and the choruses, the melodies. A real cocky attitude. I love it. I'm very happy with it."

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

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

Photo credit: Dustin Jack

Listen to "Lita-Ford-Interview-2019" on Spreaker.

OZZY OSBOURNE To Release 'Ordinary Man' Album; 'Under The Graveyard' Single Now Available

Ozzy Osbourne has released "Under The Graveyard", his first new solo music in almost 10 years. A massive ballad that builds into a searing rocker, it's the first single from Ozzy's forthcoming album, "Ordinary Man", due out on Epic Records in early 2020.

"This album was a gift from my higher power — it is proof to me that you should never give up," Ozzy says.

Recorded in Los Angeles, the album features producer Andrew Watt on guitars, Duff McKagan (GUNS N' ROSES) on bass and Chad Smith (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS) on drums.

"It all started when Kelly [Osbourne] comes in and says, 'Do you want to work on a Post Malone song?'" Ozzy explains. "My first thing was, 'Who the fuck is Post Malone?!' I went to Andrew's [Watt] house and he said we will work really quick. After we finished that song, he said, 'Would you be interested in starting an album?' I said 'that would be fucking great, but now I am thinking I don't want to be working in a basement studio for six months! And in just a short time, we had the album done. Duff and Chad came in and we would go in and jam during the day and I would go work out the songs in the evenings. I previously had said to Sharon I should be doing an album, but in the back of my mind I was going 'I haven't got the fucking strength...' but Andrew pulled it out of me. I really hope people listen to it and enjoy it, because I put my heart and soul into this album."

Ozzy has not released an all-new solo effort since 2010's "Scream", having spent the last few years touring with BLACK SABBATH in support of that band's "13" LP, as well as playing a number of solo shows. More recently, Osbourne has been recuperating at home after sustaining a bad neck injury resulting in the postponement of his solo tour.

Last month, Ozzy once again postponed his European tour, marking the second time the BLACK SABBATH singer has done so following a series of health issues.

Ozzy initially scrapped his entire 2019 schedule earlier this year, as he recovered from surgery to repair an injury sustained while dealing with his recent bout of pneumonia. The European leg of his "No More Tours 2" trek was then rescheduled for January through March 2020, with the North American dates set to follow in May 2020.

According to Live Nation Sweden, the new European tour dates will now take place "in the first half of 2021." The American dates remain in place for now.

KING DIAMOND Releases First New Song In 12 Years, 'Masquerade Of Madness'

"Masquerade Of Madness", a brand new song from KING DIAMOND, can be streamed below. The track will appear on KING DIAMOND's first studio album in 12 years, "The Institute", which will be released in 2020 via Metal Blade Records.

This past March, King Diamond told Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show that the next album from his namesake band will be "absolutely gruesome. The storyline is… well, it's in a way where I can't even put it into just one album," he said. "So, it has to be over two albums. And it's really planned out to work in a very special way with the show as well. So the show is being built right now in Denmark and it's built around that story, so that it really can go hand in hand. Right now, I already know how the production will develop for the next tour, after this tour, so that when we do part two of that story, I know how the whole thing ends, of course, already, and I know how the production is gonna change and how it's gonna be culminating in one very, very big thing. So it's a long project, several years. Actually, the next three years are gonna be very, very intense for us. There is a lot of things that is in the planning. Also, after we signed up with 5B [artist] management, a lot of good stuff is coming out of that, piece by piece. We are getting a plan that is gonna be amazing for our fans for the next three years — something that's gonna come that they would not expect, I think. So some very, very cool prospects.

"[The album] has something to do with parallel worlds and punishment, and other stuff like that. You'll see us torture our dear little Abigail on stage. It's part of the story; you'll see it. But it's great to be here enjoying life. And [my son] Byron, it's been almost two years now [since he was born], and it's incredible. But it hasn't changed me very much when it comes to what I stand for and the stories that's coming and the musical style that's coming. It's total, utter KING DIAMOND."

KING DIAMOND's next album is said to be a story set in a 1920s mental institution. "I chose that because I think it's a very creepy scenario," King told Full Metal Jackie. "And the thing is that I know that somebody has talked about that, but that's not the setting, actually. There's a lot of other things involved, but the setting looks as if it was a 1920s asylum — that's exactly what it looks like. And some of the things that go on that we're gonna show onstage is also things that certainly was going on back then, when medicine was beginning to take a beneficial turn in history and actually being able to help human beings live longer. But there was some experimentation going on, too, that was absolutely gruesome. Some of that is involved in the story, but it's something totally different. Once you get to the second part of the story, you will begin to suddenly understand that, 'What the hell is going on here? What is this really about?' 'Cause there's a whole different story that will not come to you till second part. But in the first part, you're gonna get to know a lot people at a certain place.

"Instead of telling the story — it's way too much — but some of it takes place here, this world, and some of it takes place in a parallel world. And there's a correlation between what happened to me and what happens to some people in this place and where they suddenly appear. And you will find out why they are there, how they appear there and the places down the road. I won't say too much right now, but it's gonna be very creepy."

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 via Metal Blade Records. The set captures 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 feature KING DIAMOND's current band, comprising of guitarists Andy LaRocque and Mike Wead, bassist Pontus Egberg and drummer Matt Thompson.

IRON MAIDEN Announces Spring/Summer 2020 'Legacy Of The Beast' Tour Dates

British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN have announced nearly three dozen shows for next spring and summer as part of their acclaimed "Legacy Of The Beast" tour.

After a six-date run in Australia and New Zealand in May, they will play in Japan and the Philippines, before traveling to Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Tel Aviv, Israel. MAIDEN will then return to Europe for a number of festival appearances and headlining shows in Finland, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Czech Republic, Holland, France, Austria, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson said in a statement: "We've had a fantastic time on the 'Legacy' tour so far, and the reaction everywhere to the stage show and all the crazy props (and Eddie!) I get to play with has been phenomenal. The whole band has been having such fun, we're really excited to bring this production back out on the road next year."

The concept for the "Legacy Of The Beast" tour was inspired by MAIDEN's mobile game and comic book of the same name. The stage set design features a number of different but interlocking "worlds" with a setlist covering a large selection of 1980s material with a handful of surprises from later albums to add diversity.

MAIDEN's current set includes a Spitfire buzzing the stage during the opening number, "Aces High". The plane is a 90-percent-sized replica of an actual Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb registration number AA 853 from 302 Squadron that saw active duty in 1941.

MAIDEN's 2019 North, South and Central America trek comprised 44 shows in six countries, which, combined with the band's 2018 European dates, means that the group has already taken the "Legacy Of The Beast" show to over one and three quarter of a million fans around the globe.

The first leg of the "Legacy Of The Beast" tour opened in Europe last year to outstanding critical acclaim, not just by the 750,000-plus fans who came to see the show but right across national press and rock media, including The Times (U.K.) newspaper calling it "an extraordinary show filled with world class theatrics… a masterclass in performance and staging."

IRON MAIDEN's 2020 tour dates:

May 01 - Perth, Australia, RAC Arena (w/ KILLSWITCH ENGAGE)

May 03 - Adelaide, Australia, Entertainment Centre (w/ KILLSWITCH ENGAGE)

May 05 - Brisbane, Australia, Entertainment Centre (w/ KILLSWITCH ENGAGE)

May 07 - Sydney, Australia, Qudos Bank Arena (w/ KILLSWITCH ENGAGE)

May 11 - Melbourne, Australia, Rod Laver Arena (w/ KILLSWITCH ENGAGE)

May 13 - Auckland, New Zealand, Spark Arena (w/ KILLSWITCH ENGAGE)

May 16 - Manila, Philippines, Pulp Summer Slam

May 19 - Tokyo, Japan, Pia Arena MM

May 20 - Tokyo, Japan, Pia Arena MM

May 22 - Osaka, Japan, [venue to be confirmed]

May 27 - Dubai, UAE, Coca-Cola Arena

May 30 - Tel Aviv, Israel, Bloomfield Stadium (w/ ORPHANED LAND)

Jun. 5-7 - Tampere, Finland, Rockfest

Jun. 09 - Bremen, Germany, Buergerweide (w/ DISTURBED & AIRBOURNE)

Jun. 10 - Cologne, Germany, Rhein-Energie-Stadium (w/ AIRBOURNE & LORD OF THE LOST)

Jun. 13 - Donington, UK, Download Festival

Jun. 15 - Belfast, UK, Belsonic Festival

Jun. 18 - Dessel, Belgium, Graspop Metal Meeting

Jun. 20 - Copenhagen, Denmark, Copenhell

Jun. 23 - Berlin, Germany, Waldbuehne (w/ AIRBOURNE & LORD OF THE LOST)

Jun. 25 - Oslo, Norway, Tons Of Rock

Jun. 27 - Gothenburg, Sweden, Ullevi Stadium (w/ ALTER BRIDGE & AIRBOURNE)

Jun. 30 - St Petersburg, Russia, Ice Palace (w/ AIRBOURNE)

Jul. 02 - Moscow, Russia, VTB Arena Dynamo Central Stadium (w/ AIRBOURNE)

Jul. 05 - Warsaw, Poland, PGE Narodowy (w/ WITHIN TEMPTATION & LORD OF THE LOST)

Jul. 07 - Prague, Czech Republic, Sinobo Stadium (w/ AIRBOURNE & LORD OF THE LOST)

Jul. 09 - Weert, Holland, Evenemententerrein (w/ Alter BRIDGE & AIRBOURNE)

Jul. 11 - Paris, France, Paris La Defense Arena (w/ AIRBOURNE & AVATAR)

Jul. 16 - Wiener, Austria, Neustadt Stadium (w/ AIRBOURNE & LORD OF THE LOST)

Jul. 18 - Stuttgart, Germany, Mercedes-Benz Arena (w/ AIRBOURNE & LORD OF THE LOST)

Jul. 20 - Bologna, Italy, Sonic Park (w/ AIRBOURNE & LORD OF THE LOST)

Jul. 23 - Lisbon, Portugal, Estadio Nacional (w/ WITHIN TEMPTATION & AIRBOURNE)

Jul. 25 - Barcelona, Spain, Olympic Stadium (w/ WITHIN TEMPTATION & AIRBOURNE)

BRING ME THE HORIZON Releases New Song 'Ludens'

British rockers BRING ME THE HORIZON have released a new song called "Ludens". The track is the latest offering from the upcoming "Death Stranding: Timefall (Original Music From The World Of Death Stranding)" soundtrack, featuring original music inspired by the upcoming PlayStation 4 (PS4) video game "Death Stranding". Last month it was announced that RCA Records has partnered with Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) to release the soundtrack tomorrow (November 7). "Ludens" premiered on the Annie Mac show earlier today and is available widely now.

BRING ME THE HORIZON singer Oli Sykes says: "'Death Stranding' is a game I've been waiting for long before collaborating with them was on the table. Kojima-san is one of the few people I would call a hero to me, so making a track for his first game since Konami was equal parts daunting, stressful and exciting… the whole thing felt surreal, and not right... To be honest, I didn't see where a BRING ME THE HORIZON song was going to fit into an art house AAA game, but I was stupid to try and pigeonhole Kojima's style!"

"Ludens" follows previously released tracks "Trigger" by Major Lazer x Khalid which Billboard stated the duo's moods "melt well over a ballad beat with muted dancehall influence," "Ghost" by Au/Ra x Alan Walker, "Yellow Box" by The Neighbourhood and "Death Stranding" by CHVRCHES. "Death Stranding" was met by rave reviews, with Rolling Stone declaring the track "stunning" and Uproxx calling it an "epic synth-pop jam."

"Death Stranding: Timefall (Original Music From The World Of Death Stranding)" track listing:

01. Trigger" - Major Lazer & Khalid

02. Ghost" - Au/Ra & Alan Walker

03. Death Stranding" - CHVRCHES

04. Yellow Box" - The Neighbourhood

05. Meanwhile...In Genova" - The S.L.P.

06. Ludens" - BRING ME THE HORIZON

07. Born In The Slumber" - Flora Cash

08. Sing To Me" - MISSIO

Photo credit: Alissa Sykes

1

Bring Me the Horizon

STONE SOUR To Release First Official Live Album; 'Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno'

STONE SOUR will release its first official live album, "Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno", on December 13 via Cooking Vinyl. The release features 16 of the band's most loved tracks, including "Absolute Zero", "Through Glass" and "Song #3" recorded live on October 5, 2018. The album will be available on CD, digitally, and as a numbered 180-gram double vinyl package, limited to just 2500 copies, which also includes a poster, backstage pass, guitar pick, autographed setlist and a download card.

Speaking on the band's first official live release, guitarist Josh Rand says: "It's with great pleasure that I get to announce the first-ever official STONE SOUR live record release. This is the Reno show in its entirety, just how it went down on October 5th, 2018. We’re extremely proud of the fact that it's 100% live with absolutely no overdubs! It's not perfect but neither are we. As a collector myself, I wanted this limited-edition release to be very special. The vinyl is pressed on 180 grams, giving you the best audio quality possible, and is limited to 2500 copies worldwide. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did playing it."

"Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno" track listing:

01. YSIF

02. Taipei Person / Allah Tea

03. Do Me A Favor

04. Knievel Has Landed

05. Whiplash Pants

06. Absolute Zero

07. Bother

08. Tired

09. Rose Red Violent Blue

10. 30/30-150

11. Get Inside

12. Reborn

13. Song #3

14. Through Glass

15. Made Of Scars

16. Fabuless

Earlier this year, STONE SOUR bassist Johny Chow confirmed to Meltdown of Detroit, Michigan's WRIF 101.1 FM radio station that the band has commenced the songwriting process for the follow-up to 2017's "Hydrograd" album.

STONE SOUR singer Corey Taylor told Australia's Heavy magazine in 2018 that he and his bandmates started writing new music "pretty much as soon as we got on the road" in support of "Hydrograd". "We just can't be stopped; we're just gluttons for punishment at this point," he said. "But the cool thing is that knowing that we've got all this great material, we can kind of enjoy the rest as much as we can because we know that when it's time to really start kind of ramping up the demo machine, we're gonna have all this cool stuff to listen to. There's no pressure for us to just run right in."

Taylor, who stepped away from STONE SOUR in 2019 to focus on SLIPKNOT, said that the former band's absence from the touring circuit "will allow the audience to miss [STONE SOUR], which is the best thing in the world you can have — that built-in need for a band to come back. Just when you think you can't wait any longer, here comes this band and they're, like, 'Oh, goddamn, they're so good right now.' So we're pretty stoked, man. We're definitely looking forward to trying to see if we can top 'Hydrograd'."

"Hydrograd" was released as a deluxe edition in August 2018. The two-disc set, "Hydrograd Deluxe Edition", collects unreleased covers, b-sides, live recordings and alternate versions of songs from "Hydrograd". The deluxe edition is highlighted by "Burn One Turn One", a previously unreleased b-side from "Hydrograd". "Hydrograd Deluxe Edition" features 13 rare or unreleased songs including an acoustic version of the No. 1 rock song "Song #3", as well as covers of hits from RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, SOUNDGARDEN and VAN HALEN.

SONS OF APOLLO To Release 'MMXX' Album In January

SONS OF APOLLO — former DREAM THEATER members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-GUNS N' ROSES), Billy Sheehan (THE WINERY DOGS, MR. BIG, DAVID LEE ROTH) and Jeff Scott Soto (ex-JOURNEY, ex-YNGWIE MALMSTEEN'S RISING FORCE) — are ready to ring in the new decade with a sonic boom with their second studio album, appropriately titled "MMXX" (pronounced: 20/20).

Produced by The Del Fuvio Brothers (Portnoy and Sherinian), "MMXX" will be released on January 17, 2020 via InsideOut Music/Sony as a standard CD package, limited-edition 2 CD package (which includes instrumental mixes and a cappella excerpts), 2 LP + CD package, and on all digital formats. Pre-orders for all formats will be available starting November 15, which will include an instant download of the album's first single, "Goodbye Divinity", on iTunes and Amazon.

A teaser trailer was released on Inside Out's official YouTube page and is available below.

"Stylistically, we have followed the same path as the debut," outlines drummer Portnoy. "But we feel that it has come out stronger, simply because we know one another better. 'Psychotic Symphony' was the first time the five of us had worked together, so there was bound to be an air of experimentation happening. Now, we can draw on having the experience not only of recording that album, but also of touring together a lot. And now there is clearly a lot more obvious chemistry going on."

"We did 83 shows on the last tour," adds keyboardist Derek Sherinian. "And it was so worthwhile, because we came out of it with a stronger bond, and that is certainly reflected in what we wrote."

The writing process began at the start of the year, as Portnoy, Sherinian and guitarist Thal got together. "The three of us were at my home studio in Pennsylvania," explains Portnoy. "And it took about three weeks to get all the music written. That was a very smooth process. The last time, it certainly must have felt a little weird for Bumblefoot to be writing with Derek and me, because we were strangers to him. Now, we know one another better and that helped things push along."

"Because we all have our home studios, it meant everyone could record there as and when they had opportunity," continues Sherinian. "We all had the luxury of being able to take our time to get all the parts done, which was a huge help in the way the album's come out. I suppose in all, it took about eight months to record everything."

The lyrics were written by Soto, who also came up with the melody lines with input from Sherinian. "While Jeff was left to come up with the words on his own, as the melody lines are part of the music, it made sense for me to be involved with that part," says the keyboard player.

There are eight tracks on "MMXX", with variations in length totaling 60 minutes. "The final song is 'New World Today', which is 16 minutes long," says Portnoy. "This one has elements similar to 'Opus Maximus' and 'Labyrinth' on the previous album. It has some insane, brilliant instrumental moments, which I am sure the fans will love."

"We wanted to do something epic here, as we did with 'Opus Maximus' last time around," adds Sherinian. "You have to remember that Mike and I come from DREAM THEATER, where we never bothered about how long a song was. So, for us doing a 16-minute track is not a problem."

Here's the track listing for "MMXX":

01. Goodbye Divinity (7:16)

02. Wither To Black (4:48)

03. Asphyxiation (5:09)

04. Desolate July (6:11)

05. King Of Delusion (8:49)

06. Fall To Ascend (5:07)

07. Resurrection Day (5:51)

08. New World Today (16:38)

The album title was inspired by a simple chronological fact. "This will be released in mid-January 2020," says Portnoy. "That means it will be one of the first releases in what is a new decade. So I came up with the idea of calling it '2020', except having it written in the Latin form of 'MMXX'." And the album's artwork has been created by Thomas Ewerhard (who was responsible for the cover design of "Psychotic Symphony"), which inevitably reflects the title. As Portnoy explains, "For the first record, we had a mythological feel. This time around though, there's a much more futuristic style to what we've got. It has a very 21st century appeal. And the band crest is more polished, cleaned up and a lot more modern than last time, when it had an old-fashioned look."

"Each member of this band has their own signature sound on their instrument," adds Sherinian. "And when you put all of this together what you get is a wonderful five-headed beast. It makes this a sonically special band, which is definitely what comes across on 'MMXX'. You can hear odd time signatures and amazingly crazy performances here. Overall, we've been satisfyingly more adventurous this time than we were before, and I know people are sure to love what we've done."

In touring news, the band's headlining "MMXX" world tour will launch January 24 in Pomona, California and will take them around the world throughout the new year. They have also just announced European tour dates for March 2020.

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SEPULTURA Releases New Song, 'Isolation'

Brazilian/American metallers SEPULTURA will release their new album, "Quadra", in early 2020 via Nuclear Blast Records. The disc's opening track, "Isolation", can now be streamed below.

After relentless touring for its previous opus, 2017's "Machine Messiah", SEPULTURA returned to Sweden's Fascination Street Studios to once again work with producer Jens Bogren. "Quadra" saw the bandmembers pushing their own mental and physical boundaries and has been one of the group's hardest albums to complete.

Singer Derrick Green explains: "The experience was like no other time in the studio. I felt the preparation was key in making the recording process go as smooth as possible. We were relentless each day giving everything that we had until complete exhaustion of the mind, body, and soul. This album is a direct result of the sign of times. The music is an evolution needed to push ourselves to go further than we ever have."

The cover for "Quadra" was created by Christiano Menezes for Darkside Books. Revolving around the meaning of the number 4, the concept goes much deeper, as guitarist Andreas Kisser explains. "Quadra, among other meanings, is the Portuguese word for 'sport court' that by definition is a limited area of land, with regulatory demarcations, where according to a set of rules the game takes place," he says.

"We all come from different Quadras. The countries, all nations with their borders and traditions; culture, religions, laws, education and a set of rules where life takes place. Our personalities, what we believe, how we live, how we build societies and relationships, all depends on these set of rules that we grew up with. Concepts of creation, gods, death and ethics.

"Money, we are enslaved by this concept," he continues. "Who's poor and who's rich, that's how we measure people and material goods. Regardless of your Quadra, you need money to survive, the prime rule to play this game called life. Hence the coin.

"The coin is forged with the senator skull, who represents the set of rules and laws we live by; the world map on his head delimiting the borders of all nations, imaginary lines separating people by concepts of race and the sacred."

"Machine Messiah" was SEPULTURA's fourteenth studio album and the eighth since Green joined the ranks. Lyrically, the disc tackled the metaphorical robotization of society and the need to follow and worship someone.

SEPULTURA was formed in 1984 in Belo Horizonte by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, who are no longer with the band.

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Watch SLAYER Perform In Hershey, Pennsylvania

Fan-filmed video footage of SLAYER's November 6 concert at Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube user "Jim Powers").

SLAYER has just kicked off "The Final Campaign", the seventh and final leg of its farewell world tour. This last hurrah started at the ExploreAsheville Arena in Asheville, North Carolina, and will see the band taking its goodbye bow at the Los Angeles Forum on November 30. Accompanying SLAYER for this last ride are PRIMUS, MINISTRY and PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS performing a vulgar display of PANTERA, who are supporting on all dates.

SLAYER's final world tour began on May 10, 2018 with the band's intention to play as many places as possible, to make it easy for the fans to see one last SLAYER show and say goodbye. By the time the 18-month trek wraps on November 30, the band will have completed seven tour legs plus a series of one-off major summer festivals, performing more than 140 shows in 30 countries and 40 U.S. states.

SLAYER's final world tour has been a wild ride. Three bus drivers, four truck drivers, and a crew of 32 have traveled all over the world to set the stage for this farewell. At most shows, SLAYER's pyro expert set off 160 pounds of propane and 10 liters of 99% isopropyl alcohol, prompting the Phoenix New Times reviewer to comment on the "eyebrow-singeing pyrotechnics that could be felt even 10 rows behind the pit." In Toronto, one diehard fan was ejected from the concert before SLAYER took the stage, so jumped into Lake Ontario (that surrounds the Budweiser Arena) and swam back to the venue. The Tampa Bay Times' Jay Cridlin wrote, "Beginning with the throttling opener 'Repentless', SLAYER tore through their set like a flaming cigarette boat across the river Styx, charring up a vicious circle pit by the stage," and Detroit's Gary Graff noted in his Oakland Press review the "10,000 headbangers who skipped the 'Game Of Thrones' finale to pay homage to the pioneering quartet." "The sheer physicality of their show was something to behold and was yet another indication that while the band may be calling it a career, they are going out on top, playing at their absolute best," wrote Andy Lindquist for the SF Sonic, and Guy D'Astolfo with the Youngtown Vindicator ended his review with this: "After the final note, Tom Araya stood alone, scanning the crowd...forging a mental imprint of the moment. After a minute or two, he went to the microphone and said, 'I'm going to miss you guys.' Then he exited and the lights went up."

Video Premiere: MAYHEM's 'Falsified And Hated'

The official music video for the song "Falsified And Hated" from Norwegian black metal veterans MAYHEM can be seen below. The track is taken from the band's latest album, "Daemon", which was released on October 25 via Century Media.

Guitarist Teloch comments: "This is the first official music video we have released, so indeed some thought went into this. Instead of having us filmed at some dodgy location with instruments not even plugged in, we did something different, in the true tradition of the band. We hired Johan Bååth (WATAIN, etc.) as a director and we also were lucky enough to get the infamous Swedish graffiti artist Ziggy Jonas Rasmusson to do his ritualistic paintings for the video."

Producer Tore Stjerna states: "It's a very strong track with tons of energy. It also stands out in an interesting way with its hints towards industrial music. The insanity of this roller-coaster ride of a song marries beautifully with the twisted art featured in the video."

Director Johan Bååth says: "When I was asked to do the very first MAYHEM music video, I thought I really had to do something more than just a plain black metal video, I wanted to take it one step further and do something different but stay true to the genre and, of course, MAYHEM's iconic legacy as a band. I thought of the artist Ziggy Jonas Rasmusson and his ritualistic paintings and I asked him if he wanted to participate. Together we came up with this idea of a ritualistic painted pentagon-shaped room, completely surrounded by five painted walls, facing a centered pentagram-painting with Ziggy's 'hex-text'signs and symbols all over, each of the five point corners symbolizing human expiration. In the middle, we see an organic neoplasm tumor-like shaped form, all muddy and dirty with wooden branches ensnared around it. The surreal and scary-looking outgrowth is almost breathing with dark energy, attached to several plastic tubes connected to five cloaked characters symbolizing the five members of MAYHEM. They're completely occupied with different ritual tasks destroying all humanity and contributing matter and dark energy to the demon creation in the middle."

By the power of darkness and with the might of black-hearted will no two MAYHEM albums have been or will ever be the same. Over the course of MAYHEM's storied and groundbreaking 35-year career — from "Deathcrush" (1987) through "Esoteric Warfare" (2014) — the Norwegians have continuously challenged the orthodoxy of the genre they helped create. Originally informed by greats HELLHAMMER, VENOM, BATHORY and SODOM, MAYHEM eventually imbued its damnable attack with influences from all over the music extreme spectrum, indicated first on the harsh and angular "Wolf's Lair Abyss" (1997) EP and foremost on the enterprisingly brutal and revolutionary "Grand Declaration Of War" (2000).

"Daemon" isn't a direct follow-up to "Esoteric Warfare". Like all MAYHEM albums of their time, "Daemon" is unto itself. The wolf solitary and singular. Indeed, "Daemon" also isn't a new chapter in MAYHEM's storied career. Rather, it's a new tome, authoritative yet wild in character. Composed and decomposed with the same lineup — Necrobutcher (bass), Hellhammer (drums), Attila (vocals), Teloch (guitars) and Ghul (guitars) — that handled "Esoteric Warfare" and performed "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" in its entirety over the last few years, "Daemon" isn't a retrofit of classic songs like "Freezing Moon", "Pagan Fears" or "Buried By Time And Dust" either. That's what the live album, "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive" (2016), was for. "Daemon" is change, an opportunity for the maw of hell to open wider.

"MAYHEM will always be MAYHEM," says Teloch. "If we put the genre game aside a bit, no one else sounds like MAYHEM. Even when 'De Mysteriis' came out, it was not at first considered to be a black metal album, if my memory serves me right. Tricky to label this band. Metal would be the most fitting; it's not pure black metal, in my opinion. Not sure it has ever been actually, despite what the general opinion is. People can call it whatever they want. If it's black metal to them, then fine. We don't really care. To me, it's important to keep some sort of black metal vibe at least."

MAYHEM entered NBS Audio Studio (a.k.a. Necromorbus Studio) in Söderfors, Sweden to record drums and vocals with producer/engineer Tore Stjerna. Newly consecrated Studio A (Stjerna's Stockholm studio will continue to operate as Studio B) in an old church, Hellhammer and Csihar recorded their respective parts for "Daemon". The band then had Ghul record his guitars in the Netherlands, while the bass was engineered by Teloch and performed by Necrobutcher at Lupercal Studio in Oslo, Norway. Teloch took his guitar tracking to SleikBallaMi Studio, also in Oslo. "Daemon" was then brought back to Stjerna for mixing and sent off to Thomas Johansson at The Panic Room for mastering. The whole affair took about three months to nail down.

"Daemon" track listing:

01. The Dying False King

02. Agenda Ignis

03. Bad Blood

04. Malum

05. Falsified And Hated

06. Aeon Daemonium

07. Worthless Abomination Destroyed

08. Daemon Spawn

09. Of Worms And Ruins

10. Invoke The Oath

Certainly, the art of the album cover can be hit or miss. Not for MAYHEM. The Norwegians have crafted an aesthetic that's both harrowing and insidious. From the low contrast majesty of "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" and the blurry haunt of "Chimera" to the suggestive intensity of "Grand Declaration Of War" and "Esoteric Warfare"'s retro-modern mind machine layout, the band have always been progressively inclined where it concerns image, message, and style. For "Daemon", MAYHEM enlisted Italian designer Daniele Valeriani (LUCIFER'S CHILD, DARK FUNERAL) to understand, conceive, and deliver the cover art.

"I think this album will be most pleasing for old and new fans," says Teloch. "As most of our devoted fans know, MAYHEM has never released two albums that sound the same. That's the case this time around as well. As I said, we simplified stuff, but at the same time tried out some new stuff to keep it interesting for ourselves and, also for our fans that dig that we are doing something new on each album."

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Watch PHILIP ANSELMO Perform PANTERA Classics In Hershey, Pennsylvania

Fan-filmed video footage of PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS performing several PANTERA classics during their November 6 concert at Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania as the support act for SLAYER can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube user "Jim Powers").

This past summer, Philip Anselmo spoke to Revolver about his decision to play a number of PANTERA songs during the current tour with his solo band, PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS.

"We were about a month out from touring [the second ILLEGALS album, 'Choosing Mental Illness As A Virtue'] when Vince Paul [Abbott, PANTERA drummer] passed away and that was horrific and so unexpected," he said. "It was something that stopped me dead in my tracks. I was in my kitchen and I just dropped to the floor and just had to breathe for a little while. That's when the big plea for us to do more PANTERA songs became irresistible. The tribute had to be then. It had to be right. And I never thought it would be THE ILLEGALS. Clearly the mission for us was to be a sweaty hole-in-the wall death-metal band. I've got to say huge props to them for learning the PANTERA material. They didn't even flinch, man, and just went for it.

"The vibe from most of the shows have been so fucking great, man," he continued. "And what really tickles me is seeing the young bloods out in the audience, freaking out on the PANTERA stuff. And you know it's their parents who got them into PANTERA."

On the topic of whether his PANTERA tribute will continue into the future, or if it's something he is doing right now, Anselmo said: "I'd like it to be just for now. For me, PANTERA was PANTERA and there's no substitute. So playing those songs, I didn't mind doing it for a one-off thing here and there with a group of guys — we used to do it in 'Metal Masters', [with] Kerry King and the ANTHRAX guys. But I wasn't going to learn a set of PANTERA with another band. I didn't feel entitled to do that. It's not like I feel entitled now. I feel now it's necessary."

Asked if Vinnie's death made him think any differently about the PANTERA days and the aftermath, Anselmo said: "The only thing I can say is, if I could go visit a 20-something-year-old version of myself, I would say, 'Put the fucking bottle down, son.' Treat your body like an elite athlete and make sure that there is a very clear communication between myself and the rest of my band.

"It's a frustrating thing because my lower back injury was so fucking bad, it was torture from the second my eyes opened until I fell asleep," he said. "I made every rookie mistake in the book. I ended up sleepwalking through the fucking day because I didn't want to exist. It felt like my skeleton had betrayed me. It was a common lower injury, a blown-out disc. It was just at the wrong time — [1994's] 'Far Beyond Driven' was just getting wrapped up. And once I got that phone call, 'Hey, your record's No. 1,' I knew what was going to happen — world tour after tour after tour. That was the big dream anyway. And I couldn't do it, man. Neurosurgery was still barbaric at that time. I had to wait until 2006 to have any surgery at all and by then three discs had blown. I had the second surgery in 2018. I'm doing tons better now. You're thrust into a circumstance and I wouldn't wish that on anybody, man."

Up until his death in June 2018, Vinnie remained on non-speaking terms with Anselmo, whom the drummer indirectly blamed for the death of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, who was his brother.

Vinnie Paul and Dimebag co-founded PANTERA. When PANTERA broke up in 2003, they formed DAMAGEPLAN. On December 8, 2004, while performing with DAMAGEPLAN at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Dimebag was shot and killed onstage by a troubled schizophrenic who believed that the members of PANTERA were stealing his thoughts.

Vinnie Paul died of dilated cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart, as well as severe coronary artery disease. His death was the result of chronic weakening of the heart muscle — basically meaning his heart couldn't pump blood as well as a healthy heart.

Vinnie was buried on June 30, 2018 next to his brother and their mother, Carolyn, at Moore Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Texas.

Watch DAVID ELLEFSON Perform With MEGADETH Tribute Band WOKE UP DEAD

MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson performed with the MEGADETH tribute band WOKE UP DEAD before a meet-and-greet and signing session on August 4 at Warwick's Books in La Jolla, California. Joining them on vocals was Ellefson's partner, and "More Life With Deth" book co-author, Thom Hazaert. Video footage can be seen below (courtesy of YouTube user "The Nerdy Book Fairy").

Ellefson recently released a video for "Sleeping Giants", the title track of his debut solo release, in stores now via Combat Records. "Sleeping Giants" is a companion release to Ellefson's latest memoir, "More Life With Deth", in stores now via Jawbone Press. The track features lead vocals by Hazaert, and legendary hip-hop MC Daryl "DMC" McDaniels, plus guest appearances by Steve Conley (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), Ethan Brosh, ex-GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, and Ilias Papadakis (MEMORAIN).

"More Life With Deth" is the follow up to Ellefson's celebrated "My Life With Deth", and delves deeper into the later stages of Ellefson's career, as well as a thorough exploration of the earliest days of MEGADETH and beyond.

"Sleeping Giants" is a retrospective featuring several new tracks, plus a collection of demos, and unreleased material spanning David's career outside of MEGADETH, including the unreleased demo "If You Were God", featuring John Bush (ANTHRAX, ARMORED SAINT), and several unreleased demos featuring former HOUSE OF LORDS/GIUFFRIA vocalist David Glen Eisley. The CD version will also include a second bonus disc, featuring a compilation of EMP and Combat Records artists, including WRATH, LAST CRACK, DOYLE, ARISE IN CHAOS, SUNFLOWER DEAD, Marc Rizzo, and more.

Produced by Ellefson and Hazaert, with additional production from ICON guitarist John Aquilino at the Platinum Underground in Phoenix, "Sleeping Giants" also features a multitude of guests including former MEGADETH guitarist Chris Poland, Ken Mary (ALICE COOPER, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), Steve Conley (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM, F5), Eric AK (FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), Ethan Brosh, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, Dave Sharpe and Opus Lawrence of DEAD BY WEDNESDAY, Mark Tremonti, Illias Papadakis (MEMORAIN), Dave McClain (MACHINE HEAD, SACRED REICH), Joey Radziwill (SACRED REICH), and a remix by "Game Of Thrones" star Kristian Nairn (Hodor).

ALL THAT REMAINS Singer PHIL LABONTE: 'The Real Impact Of The Internet Is Only Now Just Starting To Be Felt'

In a brand new interview with Heavy Metal And Booze, ALL THAT REMAINS frontman Phil Labonte spoke how the explosion of wireless communication in the early twenty-first century, with humankind now almost entirely connected, has affected society.

"There have been people that have argued with me about the impact of the Internet," he said (see video below). "I think that the impact of the Internet wasn't felt strongly until the dawn of the smartphone. It was there, but you had to go to it; you weren't always connected. People are constantly connected to their cell phones, their smartphones. You would go on the Internet — you would go home and sit down behind your computer and get on the Internet. You don't get on the Internet anymore; you're on the Internet or you're not.

"So the real impact of the Internet is only now just starting to be felt," he continued. "Honestly, that's what I think. And then I think that what people like [Tesla CEO] Elon Musk are talking about — different ways to interface; Neuralink, the ability to use your brain to control the Internet or to access the Internet; biohacking and stuff like that — I think that's something that's closer than people realize.

"When people are no longer limited by that slow interaction, that slow interface, then I can see some really incredible things coming to the Internet," Labonte added. "So I think that we're just on the dawn of seeing the impact the Internet's gonna have. I don't think that we really can grasp it yet. I think there are people out there that might be able to grasp it, or there are people out there that can grasp it, but not everybody. Because grandma has only been on Facebook for four or five years. It's when everybody is always online — that's when you can say, 'All right. Let's see what the Internet can really do.' And right now, I think that it's just barely starting."

ALL THAT REMAINS's latest album, "Victim Of The New Disease", was released in November 2018 via Fearless in North America and Eleven Seven in Europe.

The band recently completed the North American "Disease Of The Anima" tour with co-headliner LACUNA COIL.

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All That Remains

ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN: 'I Look Back On My THE GATHERING Days With A Lot Of Pride'

Alexiel Divine of The Offering webzine conducted an interview with former THE GATHERING and current VUUR frontwoman Anneke Van Giersbergen during a recent stop on her North American tour where she was supporting AMORPHIS and DELAIN. You can watch the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On doing a full tour in North America after an extended absence:

Anneke: "I love it. I love it. I love touring in general. Of course, some tours are better than others. But this one is really nice. For one thing, I haven't been on a proper tour in North America since my GATHERING days, so that's a long time ago. I did some one-off things, but proper touring is a long time ago. I'm enjoying myself so much. The bands we are touring with, AMORPHIS and DELAIN, are just great. They make great music. So I enjoy their music every day, but also they're great people to work with and to be with. So far we are on show nine, so we are early in the tour and everything is wonderful."

On why she opted to do an all-acoustic set for the tour:

Anneke: "I'm not sure. I think it was the promoter's idea to have the people who set this tour up, it was the idea to have two rock shows and me doing the acoustic show. Also, because I'm doing a lot of acoustic shows by myself all over the place, always. I do these acoustic shows in between band shows and so I do a lot of different things. For some reason, people really enjoy me doing the acoustic thing because I always make a setlist with all kinds of songs, with my own songs, but also my own songs I sang with other people — Devin Townsend, AYREON, you name them. They really like the retrospective thing I do in the setlist playing acoustic."

On whether she would release an album of just acoustic material:

Anneke: "Yes, I am. I actually never made my acoustic album because I've been touring on my own for so long, but I never made this album. I felt now it was time to do that. At the moment, I'm writing and recording a solo acoustic album. I'm writing songs really by myself, on my own I'm writing the songs. Then, eventually, I will work with Gijs Coolen. He's my old guitar player and producer as well. He's getting these ready for production and to be recorded. It's going to be a very personal album. Just he and I are working on these songs. It's going to be a little different than my last album with VUUR. It was a metal album. It's very personal. I'm loving the songs. I'm not sure how to describe them, but we'll see. I'm going to release it next summer, I hope. Then I'm coming back to tour extensively. I'm going to do an extensive tour throughout Europe, South America and America."

On deciding to launch VUUR three years ago:

Anneke: "I've been in the metal scene for so long. After THE GATHERING, after I left THE GATHERING, I had some bands, my own bands, but I worked in metal with other people like Devin, like WITHIN TEMPTATION. I always felt like I wanted to really have my own band, to write my own metal songs, to have my metal, rock, or heavy outlet. So I formed a couple of years ago VUUR, we made an album. I feel so happy that I have my own outlet, my own expression of heavy music. The idea is to switch: heavy band stuff, with solo stuff, with band stuff, with solo stuff. Then, every once in a while, I'll work together with other bands, like AMORPHIS. I get to tour with them. I'm on their new album. I'm so happy to work with them and do these projects. It's keeping me busy."

On whether she misses fronting THE GATHERING:

Anneke: "When I was in THE GATHERING, it's a bit of a long time. When we started out, I was a child. [Laughs] I sometimes think back and I grew so much. We had a lot of experience with THE GATHERING. After, in my solo career, I've had a lot of experiences, so I grew up a lot, happily. I wouldn't want to go back to my youth, because I was a kid. I think life is better now because I'm a mother and it's a beautiful life. I make music and it's really wonderful. I look back on my GATHERING days with a lot of pride because we did some wonderful albums and wonderful music with some really, really good times on tours. We toured a lot. That was always my favorite period. My favorite times with THE GATHERING was on tour and being everywhere playing music. I was very happy with that period."

In late 2018, Anneke released "Symphonized", an 11-track live album record at two career-spanning concerts alongside Residentie Orkest The Hague, which saw solo tracks, as well as compositions from VUUR, THE GENTLE STORM and THE GATHERING, reimagined with the orchestra.

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NILE's KARL SANDERS Says Some Death Metal Bands Are 'Living In The Past'

Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life recently conducted an interview with guitarist Karl Sanders of South Carolina death metal veterans NILE. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether he still has a sense of excitement prior to the release of a new NILE studio album:

Karl: "Yes, absolutely. The whole entire gamut of emotions comes into play, from anticipation, dread, excitement, wondering if fans are going to like the record, will journalists make it easier for us or harder for us? I'm not trying to make a point. I swear to god. [Laughs] But right now in the band, we're fucking happy. It's the happiest we've been in years. The teamwork, the brotherhood going on with us is so refreshing. We feel like we've been given a second chance, maybe even reborn."

On why he feels NILE has been "reborn":

Karl: "I think it is self-evident in the tracks themselves. Put on this record, [and] you can feel the fire, you can feel the sheer metal joy of violence in this. That's real. It's a tangible thing. It's in those tracks. You can hear it because it's real. You can't fool metal audiences anyway. Metal audiences know the difference; they know what they're fucking hearing. And when you go to a show, a death metal audience is standing two feet in front of you. They know. They know what they're fucking listening to. You can't lie to them, you can't fool them, you can't try to make them believe it's something other than what it actually is. Audiences can hear it. And you can hear in these tracks, yes, this is a band rejuvenated, reinvigorated, revitalized."

On the songwriting process for NILE's latest album, "Vile Nilotic Rites":

Karl: "The level of collaboration, cooperation, trust, brotherhood, it was really a great benefit to get everybody on the same page again. We haven't had that for so long that it was like exciting and fresh to us, like, back in the '[Amongst The Catacombs Of] Nephren-Ka' days when we just had that youthful fire, that hunger, that, 'Yeah, we're going to play our music and we're going to fucking bring it to people. Fuck yes!'"

On why he's determined to keep pushing NILE forward:

Karl: "I look around at my colleagues and peers, and many of them are… already concerned with nostalgia, living in the past. Like, wishing for the glory days and trying to keep reliving them. And while I agree that we should remain faithful to the original ideals and philosophies of death metal, that doesn't mean we have to live in the past. I'm interested in what we can do now. What we can do today, with this new lineup. I already know what the old NILE lineup can do. Those were great lineups, all of them, each in their own way, except for one. But what's important is what you can do with right now. I want to make metal today. I want to bang my head today. I already did that yesterday. What's the fucking point in doing what we already did? We already did that. There's fucking new, fresh territory to conquer."

On the musical direction of "Vile Nilotic Rites":

Karl: "I'd say this new record, it really tries to encompass all this band today is capable of, which is quite a broad spectrum. There's a lot of variety of various shades of death metal stylings on this record. There's complex stuff, there's heavy stuff, there's fast stuff, there's slow stuff. There's a lot of influences from a wide-ranging, diverse selection of music, evident in these tracks. So, I wouldn't necessarily call this a 'fun record,' although we are having fun. It's not a fun record like 'What Should Not Be Unearthed'. This is like, 'We want to see what this lineup, what this group of people can do.'"

On whether NILE is ever tempted to use current events for their lyrical themes:

Karl: "This band isn't really a current event, political band. I think NILE is fun escapism lyrically, with sometimes some object moral and ethical questions on the nature of humanity. But I definitely want to stay away from current events and political things, because really, we get enough of that fucking shit all the fucking time anyway. What the fuck do I think I would [write about]? Am I going to change the world? The world certainly needs help, but am I going to change the world? There was an Ozzy [Osbourne] song called ['I Don't Want To Change The World']; it was a really fucking cool song. I don't know if you'd heard it or not. The center of it is I'd like to change the world, but how likely is that?"

"Vile Nilotic Rites" was released on November 1 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was recorded and produced by Sanders at Serpent Headed Studios in Greenville, South Carolina, with the exception of the drums which were recorded at Esoteron Music Studios in Athens, Greece with engineering handled by Jim Touras and George Dovolos. The album was mixed and mastered by Mark Lewis at MRL Studios. For the album artwork, the band returned to artist Michal "Xaay" Loranc who has worked with the band for over 10 years.

SLASH Says 'Living The Dream' Is 'Probably The Best Overall Tour' He And THE CONSPIRATORS Have Done

Slash says that the run of shows SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS have done in support of the group's most recent studio album, "Living The Dream", has been "probably the best overall tour" that he and his bandmates have done. "We've finally reached a place where — [we've] hit a stride where people are familiar with the material, not waiting for us to do GUNS N' ROSES songs, and so on and so forth," the guitarist told the The "Marshall Podcast" (hear audio below).

"['Living The Dream'] is the third [studio album] that [THE CONSPIRATORS have] done and we've just been progressively getting more well known musically," he continued. "So it's a nice feeling to accomplish that kind of progress."

According to Slash, the road is "the only place" he and THE CONSPIRATORS "really do get a chance to work" on new music. "If we're doing theaters and arenas and all that kind of stuff, we have our soundchecks, so I work on that stuff during that time," he said. "Because that's when I do all the writing — during the road trip. So when the tour is over, at some point, we all get together and we revisit all that material that we worked on while we were on the road. Which is actually what all the records we've done so far are a culmination of."

Complicating the creative process is the fact that Myles Kennedy and THE CONSPIRATORS don't live in the same town as Slash. "Myles is in Washington state, and I'm in L.A. and the rest of the guys are in [Las] Vegas," Slash explained. "So I fly everybody to L.A. and we'll stay there and we'll do pre-production and go in and do a record. But now that GUNS N' ROSES has become a thing, I have to do that. So as soon as this [CONSPIRATORS] tour is over, I'll work on GUNS. But I will have accumulated enough material out here that when the time comes to work on CONSPIRATORS stuff, I already have the material."

Speaking in more detail about how songs come together with THE CONSPIRATORS, Slash said: "We write the whole time. I write the music ideas, and then I'll bring it into a soundcheck situation. For me, the most important thing is the drums. So I'll start working on an idea with Brent [Fitz, drums], as well as Todd [Kerns, bass], and even Frank [Sidoris, guitar] — we'll all stand there together and do it. And then just see if it catches, if it's a cool idea with all the other instruments involved. That's the thing about guitar players — you write bitchin' guitar stuff all day long, but is it a song? So we start working it up. And then Myles will be there and he'll catch it and maybe start recording something into his phone. And we'll just sort of get the nucleus of an idea, and in some cases work on it for a few days until we have an arrangement. And then there's some stuff that we didn't ever get to play in soundcheck that I recorded on my phone in my room and I'll bring that up later."

SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS released "Living The Dream Tour" on DVD+2CD, Blu-ray+2 CD, 3LP black vinyl, limited-edition 3LP red vinyl, digital video and digital audio on September 20 via Eagle Vision. The set was shot on location on February 20, 2019 in front of a rabid crowd at London, England's Eventim Apollo.

DAVID ELLEFSON Looks Back On MEGADETH's 2002 Split: 'It Turned Out To Be, In Hindsight, Probably The Best Thing For All Of Us'

David Ellefson says that MEGADETH's split in 2002 turned out to be "probably the best thing" for everybody involved.

Dave Mustaine reformed MEGADETH in 2004 ago after disbanding the group two years earlier. Originally setting out to record a solo album, Mustaine enlisted studio musicians to play on what ultimately became MEGADETH's 2004 "The System Has Failed" comeback album, subsequently recruiting former ICED EARTH bassist James MacDonough to take Ellfeson's place for the album's touring cycle.

In 2004, Ellefson filed an $18.5-million lawsuit against Mustaine, alleging the frontman shortchanged him on profits and backed out of a deal to turn Megadeth Inc. over to him when the band broke up in 2002. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and Ellefson rejoined MEGADETH in 2010.

Speaking about MEGADETH's split and his time away from the group, Ellefson told the "Talking Bollocks" podcast (hear audio below): "In 2002, when MEGADETH had come to an end and Dave walked away from the band, and essentially we disbanded, I think everybody who's in a big, successful group, you fear that day coming. Because not very many bands are set up in a way where they're devoid of the personality and it only stands on the music and the show. There's very few. I mean, that's kind of how they put together Broadway musicals and things like that where there's always a star, but it's bigger than the star. Well, in these rock bands that we have, they're very personality driven. And if one or two personalities walk away, it's over. So what I saw as the day of impending doom that I always felt may happen finally happened, and when it happened, I had kind of two feelings. One was, 'Thank God that's over,' because it was so much work. But that was just a temporary feeling — like, 'Oh, my God. Thank God the pressure is off,' followed immediately by, 'Holy shit! How am I gonna pay for my life?' which is the reality of it."

He continued: "We all go through those emotions — if you're in any business, you're like that. But as things moved along, I realized, here I am in my mid-30s at the time raising a young family, having to work very hard to kind of recorrect the course of my life and pay my bills and everything else that I needed to do. In a weird way, MEGADETH going away allowed me to really just become my own man."

Ellefson also once again spoke about the importance of musicians exploring other avenues of creativity and different ways to generate income in an art form where most bands have a shelf life of just a few years.

"It's important, I think, that everybody in a group has their own identity, that they're able to stand on their own two feet," he added. "I see members of bands that they've kind of just been known for doing that one thing and maybe haven't stepped out musically to do other things, and I can only imagine the frustration. Because I've gotten to know a lot of other friends who have gone out and done other things, whether it be Doyle, Dave Lombardo… Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith had a season away from IRON MAIDEN and they actually opened for MEGADETH on some shows in Poland and Greece when they were in that season of their lives. Then we come back to our main bands that we're known for and we actually bring strength back, and our bands then become even bigger than they were before. And so I think sometimes that season out in the wilderness to sort of find who you are, when it's forced upon you, as it was for me through a series of circumstances there back in 2002, that season before I returned back to MEGADETH in 2010 was one of incredible growth for me. And then also realizing that, 'You know what? It's gonna be okay.' The good lord always provides a way — when there seems no other way [laughs], there always seems to be a path. I think those are the things I talk pretty openly about in my two memoirs, and I think 'More Life With Deth' really exemplifies the actions that I've taken and some very productive results that have come out of that."

Asked if he thinks the break away from MEGADETH did him a lot of good, Ellefson said: "Yeah, and I think it did Dave good. Dave got to recorrect MEGADETH to be what he wanted it to be and not always having to listen to advisors and managers and people he was getting frustrated with. So it's interesting how sometimes you get a little break away and everybody kind of finds their own way and then, in our case, when we came back together, we came back together better friends, better artists, musicians, and I think we kind of understood the roles that we each play maybe a little better. So it turned out to be, in hindsight, probably the best thing for all of us."

In his first memoir, "My Life With Deth", Ellefson admitted that he became a salaried employee upon his return to MEGADETH nine years ago. He told Metal-Rules.com in a recent interview: "Going from being a co-founding owner to just a sideman musician was initially why I didn't come back in 2004. I was not happy with the participations that were presented to me. In recent times, coming back, I found great joy in doing music with a lot of other people in other settings that helped me fall back in love with playing music. Now I can come back into or go into musical situations and be able to be there for a purpose and level of pay. Being a sideman absolves you from being involved in all the other stuff. At this point in my life, I would rather leave that stuff on the sidelines. Like American Express says, 'membership has its privileges,' being a sideman has its benefits. In my case, it helps retain a friendship too. In order to have a friendship, I had to give up some ownership."

MIKKEY DEE Pays Tribute To TIMI HANSEN: 'I'm So Sad That My Brother In Arms Passed Away'

Former MOTÖRHEAD and current SCORPIONS drummer Mikkey Dee has paid tribute to Timi Hansen, saying that was "a pleasure to be playing with such a bass player" during KING DIAMOND's early years.

Hansen died on Monday (November 4) after a long battle with cancer. His death was confirmed by his former bandmate, MERCYFUL FATE singer King Diamond.

Timi went public with his diagnosis in early August after it was announced that he wouldn't participate in MERCYFUL FATE's 2020 reunion. Filling in for him will be ARMORED SAINT and FATES WARNING bassist Joey Vera.

Earlier today, Dee, who played with Hansen for the first three years of KING DIAMOND's existence between 1985 and 1988, tweeted a mid-1980s photo of him with the bassist, along with the following caption: "Ooo Im so sad that my brother in arms past away. We had so much fun together and what a pleasure to be playing with such a bass player in our early years. My brother, my buddy I LOVE YOU MY FRIEND. RIP Timi Hansen!"

The 61-year-old Hansen played in MERCYFUL FATE from 1981 to 1985 and again from 1992 to 1993.

MERCYFUL FATE will reunite for an unspecified number of concerts throughout Europe during the summer of 2020, including next year's edition of the Copenhell festival, set to take place June 17-20, 2020 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Photo courtesy of "Nights With Alice Cooper"

Watch SLAYER's Entire Raleigh Concert During 'The Final Campaign' Tour

Fan-filmed video footage of SLAYER's entire November 3 concert at PNC Bank Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina can be seen below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. Delusions Of Saviour

02. Repentless

03. Mandatory Suicide

04. World Painted Blood

05. Postmortem

06. Hate Worldwide

07. War Ensemble

08. Stain Of Mind

09. Disciple

10. When The Stillness Comes

11. Born Of Fire

12. Payback

13. Seasons In The Abyss

14. Jesus Saves

15. Chemical Warfare

16. Hell Awaits

17. South Of Heaven

18. Show No Mercy

19. Raining Blood

20. Dead Skin Mask

21. Angel Of Death

Earlier this month, SLAYER set off on "The Final Campaign", the seventh and final leg of its farewell world tour. This last hurrah started at the ExploreAsheville Arena in Asheville, North Carolina, and will see the band taking its goodbye bow at the Los Angeles Forum on November 30. Accompanying SLAYER for this last ride are PRIMUS, MINISTRY and PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS performing a vulgar display of PANTERA, who are providing support on all dates.

SLAYER's final world tour began on May 10, 2018 with the band's intention to play as many places as possible, to make it easy for the fans to see one last SLAYER show and say goodbye. By the time the 18-month trek wraps on November 30, the band will have completed seven tour legs plus a series of one-off major summer festivals, performing more than 140 shows in 30 countries and 40 U.S. states.

SLAYER's final world tour has been a wild ride. Three bus drivers, four truck drivers, and a crew of 32 have traveled all over the world to set the stage for this farewell. At most shows, SLAYER's pyro expert set off 160 pounds of propane and 10 liters of 99% isopropyl alcohol, prompting the Phoenix New Times reviewer to comment on the "eyebrow-singeing pyrotechnics that could be felt even 10 rows behind the pit." In Toronto, one diehard fan was ejected from the concert before SLAYER took the stage, so jumped into Lake Ontario (that surrounds the Budweiser Arena) and swam back to the venue. The Tampa Bay Times' Jay Cridlin wrote, "Beginning with the throttling opener 'Repentless', SLAYER tore through their set like a flaming cigarette boat across the river Styx, charring up a vicious circle pit by the stage," and Detroit's Gary Graff noted in his Oakland Press review the "10,000 headbangers who skipped the 'Game Of Thrones' finale to pay homage to the pioneering quartet." "The sheer physicality of their show was something to behold and was yet another indication that while the band may be calling it a career, they are going out on top, playing at their absolute best," wrote Andy Lindquist for the SF Sonic, and Guy D'Astolfo with the Youngtown Vindicator ended his review with this: "After the final note, Tom Araya stood alone, scanning the crowd...forging a mental imprint of the moment. After a minute or two, he went to the microphone and said, 'I'm going to miss you guys.' Then he exited and the lights went up."

SLAYER's short narrative film and concert, "Slayer: The Repentless Killogy", is coming to theaters worldwide for a one-night-only event on November 6. The film was written and directed by BJ McDonnell, who conceived and directed the three brutal music videos — "You Against You", "Repentless" and "Pride In Prejudice" — for SLAYER's final studio album, "Repentless" (2015).

Following the global theatrical premiere, on November 8, the film will be available digitally and on Blu-ray, and the soundtrack from that concert will be released as both a two-disc vinyl and two CD packages.

3

QUIET RIOT's FRANKIE BANALI: How I Found Out I Have Stage Four Pancreatic Cancer

QUIET RIOT drummer Frankie Banali has opened up about his stage four pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

Last month, Banali revealed in a social media post that he has been battling the disease since April, forcing him to miss several live shows with the band. He was replaced at those gigs by either Johnny Kelly (DANZIG, TYPE O NEGATIVE) or Mike Dupke (W.A.S.P.), depending on each musician's availability.

Asked by Ultimate Classic Rock in a new interview how he found out he had cancer, Frankie said: "How the whole thing came about is I was supposed to go and play a couple of songs with Alex's [QUIET RIOT guitarist Alex Grossi] side project with Dizzy [Reed] from GUNS N' ROSES, HOOKERS & BLOW. I was supposed to play two songs with them at a show out here in L.A. That morning, I went to my storage unit to pick up some sticks and a couple of things. All of the sudden, I got a really terrible pain in my right calf. I could barely drive home, it was that severe. I got home and this was a Saturday and the earliest appointment I could get was for a Monday.

"The following morning, when I got up, i was barely able to walk 10 steps and I was out of breath and my wife convinced me that late afternoon to not wait until my appointment and go to the emergency room. They did an ultrasound of my right leg and my left and then they did a scan of my upper section and they found out that I had a blood clot in my right leg, one in my left lung, one in my right lung and one in the saddle in between the two lungs. The danger there was that if any of those dislodged, they'd take two routes, either straight to the brain, aneurysm, end of story, or to the heart, heart attack, end of story.

"Fortunately, or however you want to state it, when they did that scan, they caught part of my liver and they saw that there was a problem. They brought me back in at 3:30 in the morning to do another scan and that's when they discovered that I had stage four pancreatic cancer and that it had also spread to the liver."

Despite the diagnosis, Banali says that he has no intention of slowing down.

"I have everything to win and everything to lose in this situation," he said. "I intend to treat it the way I treat everything, which is to put everything into it and fight it all of the way to the end. Hopefully, I'll be around long enough to continue providing new QUIET RIOT music and QUIET RIOT live on the road."

Banali played his first show with QUIET RIOT since he announced his cancer diagnosis on October 26 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California.

QUIET RIOT's shows this year with Kelly and Dupke marked the first time ever that the band performed without any of the members from its classic lineup: Banali, singer Kevin DuBrow, guitarist Carlos Cavazo and bassist Rudy Sarzo.

Banali resurrected QUIET RIOT in 2010, three years after the death of founding member DuBrow.

QUIET RIOT went through two vocalists — Mark Huff and Scott Vokoun — before settling on Jizzy Pearl in 2013. Pearl announced his exit from QUIET RIOT in October 2016 and was briefly replaced by Seann Nichols, who played only five shows with the group before the March 2017 arrival of "American Idol" finalist James Durbin. Pearl returned to QUIET RIOT in September.

QUIET RIOT's new studio album, "Hollywood Cowboys" — featuring Durbin on vocals — will be released on November 8 via Frontiers Music Srl.

ROB HALFORD Would Love To See JUDAS PRIEST And IRON MAIDEN Touring Together: 'It Would Be A Spectacular Event'

Rob Halford says that he would love to see JUDAS PRIEST join forces with fellow British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN for a tour. "I think both bands would look to do that," he told Consequence Of Sound. "It's all about the timing of doing such a thing. We're good friends."

He added: "When we talk about rivalry, healthy rivalry, it's like the Arizona Cardinals and the Raiders or the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors. It's that kind of rivalry, a good rivalry. It's a fun rivalry. But I think both bands have admired each other throughout the metal years, and it would be a spectacular event — PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN together.

"My dream had always been to have like the 'Big Four' of the U.K., without turning this into a kind of depressing way," he said. "I'd always dreamed of BLACK SABBATH and MOTÖRHEAD and PRIEST and MAIDEN as the 'Big Four' doing something in the U.K. Sadly, two-fourths of that has gone," referring to the passing of Lemmy and BLACK SABBATH's retirement, "but the music lives forever. That’s the main thing."

Last year, former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Ken "K.K." Downing told SiriusXM's Eddie Trunk that the contentious rivalry between PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN developed when the two bands toured together in the early 1980s. "We'd just finished the 'British Steel' record in England, and we were going out on tour [in early 1980 with IRON MAIDEN]," he recalled. "And then the next thing I know, I read in a music paper that [IRON MAIDEN said] something like, 'Yeah, we're gonna blow the bollocks off PRIEST,' or something like that. And I went, 'What the hell is this shit?' We were still in the recording studio, tidying up the last mixes or something. And I said, 'Well, who are these guys?' Why should we have [them] on tour if they're gonna create this type of vibe before we've even met them, let alone done a show together?' I said, 'Let's get rid of them and get somebody that really appreciates the gig,' of which there would have been an awful lot of bands. But anyway, everybody talked me into going with it, and I said, 'Well, fine,' obviously being democratic. And the next thing I know, we were at the rehearsals at some theater in London somewhere, and this bunch of guys walked in and just sat down in front of me. And I said to my guitar tech, 'Who are those dudes there?' [Laughs] And he went, 'Oh, that's the support band.' And I said, 'Well, who the hell invited them into our rehearsal?' I was thinking about what I read in the papers. And I said, 'Well, just go and tell them that they weren't invited and they need to leave.' I didn't see an invite; nobody told me they were coming in — when you're trying to work out songs and this and that and the other. So that's what happened."

Downing continued: "Anyway, we went on tour [together], and can I just say they didn't blow the bollocks off JUDAS PRIEST — we were pretty well established at the time, and those guys were coming up through the ranks. So that happened. But it wasn't a good atmosphere on the tour, and it's not something I like to have happen — it shouldn't be that way. And next thing I know, somebody [said], 'Oh, IRON MAIDEN is opening up for you on their first U.S. tour [in 1981].' And I went, 'Oh, no! Not again. Can we just not have those guys on [the tour]?' But they came on the tour [anyway], and they created upsets, is what they did, for different reasons and it led to a confrontation and it got a bit ugly. I don't know how it all happened, but I did meet [former IRON MAIDEN singer] Paul Di'Anno so many years later, in about 1995, and he said, 'Hey, K.K., we're sorry about that quote in the paper.' And that's all you need.

"But, anyway, like I said, it's all water under the bridge," K.K. added. "Those guys were young, coming up through the ranks, a bit delinquent, but at least they had balls, they got on with it, they knew what they wanted to do."

In his autobiography, Di'Anno claimed that he was the main reason old feelings of rivalry existed between MAIDEN and PRIEST during the early 1980s — something that Downing later denied. "Paul apologized personally to me — what a great gesture," K.K. told Rock Hard magazine in a 2003 interview. "But he wasn't the main reason for the rivalry. At the time of 'British Steel', PRIEST was the bigger band and MAIDEN was the supporting act. They were saying that they [would] blow us off the stage without any problem — well, I thought their behavior wasn't very nice. I'd have loved to send them home to take another band with us, [one] who would have appreciated the chance. But we were told not to do it as it would have looked like we were frightened by them. So we kept on going... but they were very arrogant. And I remember the main rehearsal before the tour when there were a few guys hanging around in the room who didn't say a word and watched everything we did — every step we made and every move of the stage lights. I wasn't very pleased and asked the guitar tech to tell the guys to leave the place. Don't get me wrong: I'm not too good not to play in front of the supporting band — but they could have asked, at least, if it was okay to attend the rehearsal. We went on tour and they didn't blow us off the stage, of course. I watched quite a lot of the MAIDEN shows, but the reaction of the audience wasn't very explosive — because the fans were waiting for us. Okay, MAIDEN became one of the biggest bands of the metal scene — and I'm proud of them. We made a big mistake by focusing more on the U.S. than on Europe after releasing 'British Steel'. [I mean], we lost a lot of attention at home. In the U.S., we were quite big — and MAIDEN asked us for a support slot on our U.S. tour. We said yes — and the same old story happened again. It had a lot to do with rivalry and jealousy."

When asked what he would say to MAIDEN mainman Steve Harris if they bumped into each other, K.K. told Rock Hard: "I'd buy him a beer — because it's an old story. Like I already said, I'm proud of what MAIDEN achieved and of what they did for the British metal. It might sound stupid — but it's true."

7

K.K. DOWNING Says 'It's Looking Pretty Good This Time' That JUDAS PRIEST Will Be Inducted Into ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

K.K. Downing says "it's looking pretty good" that JUDAS PRIEST will finally be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at next year's ceremony.

Having been eligible for induction since 1999, JUDAS PRIEST was on the ballot for last year's class of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, but ultimately didn't clinch the nomination.

Earlier this month, it was announced that JUDAS PRIEST is among the nominees for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's class of 2020. The top vote-getters will be announced in January and inducted May 2, 2020 at a ceremony at Cleveland's Public Hall.

Speaking to the "Unchained" show, which airs on the 101.8 WCR FM Wolverhampton Community Radio station in Wolverhampton, England, Downing said PRIEST is likely to finally get the nod in 2020.

"I think it's looking pretty good this time, to be fair," he said. "I know there was a lot of backlash when we didn't make it the last time a year or two ago.

"It is bloody hard to get into — it really is," he continued. "I think it took [BLACK] SABBATH a long, long time to get in there. I sometimes don't know what you have to do. But what is fairly poignant is that a lot of people [who are also nominated] are not with us today. Obviously, Phil [Taylor] and Lemmy from MOTÖRHEAD; Whitney Houston; Chris Cornell; one of our drummers, obviously, the great Dave Holland is not with us. And there's more, I think.

"I think with the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, you have to have legendary status," Downing added. "There's no such thing as a young legend. [Laughs] So, these are the credentials you've gotta have, I think, before you get a look-in.

"But it is very sad when people are not here, because they didn't actually make it in [earlier]. Because it is, I think, of big, big importance."

Asked if he looks at the Rock Hall induction as an honor, Downing said: "I think you'd have to, really. It's a big thing. It is more stateside than European, I guess. But it is a big thing… As the years tick on and you're rocking away, whether it is in a rocking chair when you're 90 or something, it's just a mantelpiece on a trophy cabinet you get to look at, really. We managed to get a Grammy, which was pretty good, but we were nominated four times for that. But the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame is undoubtedly — it is what it is, I think, really."

To be eligible for this year's ballot, each nominee's first single or album had to be released in 1994 or earlier.

A voter pool of more than 1,000 artists, historians, journalists and members of the music industry will select the new class. Fans will also have a chance to take part in the process by voting at RockHall.com or an interactive kiosk at the museum in Cleveland.

Downing, Holland, Les Binks, Rob Halford, Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton and Scott Travis are on the ballot for JUDAS PRIEST.

Halford told Billboard in 2017 that he was not opposed to the idea of reuniting with Downing at the Rock Hall induction ceremony if they were to ever receive the honor. "Everything's on the table for anyone that's been associated with PRIEST in and out of the band," the singer said.

ROB HALFORD's Autobiography, 'Confess', Due In Fall 2020

JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford will release his autobiography, "Confess", in October 2020.

Known as "The Metal God" by his devoted, global fan base, Halford has always subverted the norm, and "Confess" will offer readers a compelling, heartfelt and honest look at the struggles Rob has faced with addiction and his sexuality as well as exploring his music and his many brushes with controversy.

Written with Ian Gittins, co-writer of "The Heroin Diaries" by Nikki Sixx, the book charts Halford's rock and roll lifestyle from the late eighties to the band's 50th anniversary in 2020.

Halford explained: "'Confess' is a unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to expose every facet of myself. Digging deep with nothing to hide and nothing to fear was in many ways exciting, fun, disturbing, terrifying and cathartic. I've held nothing back. It's time for me to 'Confess'."

Headline Publishing's publishing director Sarah Emsley, who acquired world rights from Dave Daniel at CSA for "Confess", said: "I have a real passion for warts-and-all, career-spanning autobiographies from icons of the music world and Rob Halford's story is truly incredible. Covering seven action-packed decades, the early material from 'Confess' is stunning. We cannot wait to publish Rob's book around the globe next year."

Earlier this year, the JUDAS PRIEST singer confirmed that he was finally working on a book, after having previously insisted he would never do so because of privacy concerns.

Speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock, Halford said that his memoir will offer a candid look back at his life.

"There's no point in putting a book together if you don't have full disclosure, in my opinion," he said. "Since I've been clean and sober, I've probably been more honest and truthful about myself than I ever have been. You only get a chance to do it once and do it properly.

"I'm excited, but I'm also kind of apprehensive as we move along," he admitted. "Because you don't know what you [should include]: Should I say this, should I say that? I don't know."

As for what the book will be like, Halford said: "I don't want it to be an autobiography — I want it to be more of a memoir. It's going to have a lot of things in there that you're going to go, 'Oh, I'm not really interested in that.' You're also going to go, 'Oh my God, I never knew he did that!' But it's going to make you feel happy, it's going to make you feel sad. It's going to make you feel angry, it's going to shock you. It's going to have all of the things that I think have been in most people's lives."

Back in 2015, Halford was less enthusiastic about sharing personal details about his life in book form, telling Australia's Brisbane Times: "I know that my own life, my own experiences have something in them that people could learn from, that could really help somebody. And that it could be written in a way that needn't be exploitative or titillating. But I'm a private person, and I can say right now, it won't happen."

Halford said the same was true of JUDAS PRIEST, whose wild 1980s were chronicled in a "Behind The Music" episode but which has yet to release an official band autobiography. "We've talked about it and we're not interested," Rob said. "It seems the only way you can get these things to stick is to make it a tell-all, to dig up all the dirty laundry. We've never been to drawn to the tabloidy, gossipy side of things; we've never been desperate for attention, or gone around shooting our mouths off like other bands. We're more than happy — right now as much as ever — to be like Oz behind the curtain, to not pull that veil away, and to keep our fans directed to our albums and our shows."

Former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing released his autobiography, "Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest", in September 2018 via Da Capo Press.

“CONFESS” ?????? http://smarturl.it/RobHalfordConfess

Posted by Rob Halford on Thursday, October 31, 2019

9

Ex-JUDAS PRIEST Singer TIM 'RIPPER' OWENS Says It's 'Crazy' He Got To Be In A Band With His Idols

Former JUDAS PRIEST singer Tim "Ripper" Owens says that "it's crazy" to think that he got a chance to be in a band with his "idols."

Owens joined PRIEST in 1996 after being discovered when the group's drummer was given a videotape of him performing with the PRIEST cover band BRITISH STEEL. JUDAS PRIEST at the time was seeking a replacement for Rob Halford, who has since rejoined the act.

Owens recorded two studio albums with JUDAS PRIEST — 1997's "Jugulator" and 2001's "Demolition" — before Halford's return to the group.

Tim told Danny Stoakes that he still sometimes can't believe that he got to front his favorite band.

"It is strange, 'cause you look at 'em totally different," Owens said (hear audio below). "You still kind of laugh about it and you think, 'Wow! This is crazy.' I started saying that years ago; it really is. They were my idols — Glenn [Tipton] and K.K. [Downing] and Rob. JUDAS PRIEST was the only band I had up in the posters when I was a kid in the '80s. Yeah, it's kind of just crazy that you become such family and friends. And that we really were — that's how I was treated. So you just look at 'em differently, like, 'Man, they were my idols.' And even Rob, because we became friends. And that's a good thing, for their point of view, because they treated me well and that's how it became. It wasn't like they acted any different."

Owens went on to say that touring with PRIEST was "great. We had so much fun and hung out a lot," he said. "It was a really good time. We did everything together."

Earlier this year, Owens told Ultimate Guitar that he believes his era of JUDAS PRIEST is largely overlooked.

"Yeah, I think it definitely deserves more [attention]," he said. "I mean, they don't do anything. [Laughs] It's kind of amazing that they just totally erased it that they won't play... I mean, 'Burn In Hell' [off 'Jugulator'], the crowd would like to hear 'Burn In Hell'.

"They don't have to give me a tribute or anything, but it would be nice to play a song from... You know, that was a pretty big thing, I did two studio records, two live records, and a DVD, starting from '96 to 2004. So it's kind of crazy that it's just been erased and they won't even play a song from it live, because it is JUDAS PRIEST."

Tim 'Ripper' Owens

7

ПатриархЪ

NIGHTWISH Has Completed Recording New Album: 'I'm Very, Very Happy With It,' Says FLOOR JANSEN

Floor Jansen has confirmed that NIGHTWISH has completed recording its new album for a spring 2020 release via Nuclear Blast. The disc will mark the band's second full-length effort with the Dutch singer, who has been touring with the group since 2012.

Speaking to FaceCulture, Jansen said about NIGHTWISH's follow-up to 2015's "Endless Forms Most Beautiful": "I think we've made a very cool new album. I'm very, very happy with it. Already with the first notes, I [was, like], 'Oh, yeah. There we go.' It's as much NIGHTWISH thing you might expect from us as, 'Wow! What's this now? What's happening?' I can't really say too much about it, because there are a couple of things that are the same, a coupe of things that are different. But all I can say is I'm very happy with it and I'm very excited about it. And I think people that already knew NIGHTWISH will really enjoy this. And maybe the new people in the Netherlands [who discovered me through the Dutch reality TV show 'Beste Zangers'] will say, 'Hey, now that we know who Floor Jansen is, okay, now she's coming with a new album. [I'm] very excited to give it a shot.'"

According to Jansen, the new NIGHTWISH album sees her and her bandmates being challenged musically without compromising the essence of the group's sound.

"I do things that I didn't think I could do," she said. "When the first ideas came in, I was, like, 'Eh, okay, I need to study this.' [Laughs] [I was] really challenged. And it's not just that I need to challenge my bandmembers — it's just whatever comes out comes out. And then we're gonna see if we can do it or not and how we can make it sound good. That's also where the band really comes in and where I come in, where my creativity comes in. That's a very enjoyable process. [We go into] rehearsals [for] weeks and weeks and we go through everything — really try to set everything — and then we go and record it. And that's a really great way of working. It worked great for 'Endless Forms Most Beautiful', and we did the same now."

Jansen went on to say that "everybody" in NIGHTWISH was "very hungry" to begin work on the new LP. "Also, because after the last album, first we took time off," she said. "Then we did the 'Decades' tour. Instead of focusing on new [material], we went back in time, which was very, very, very cool to do. But now it's time for something new. So that was very nice. And to get back into the summer camp where we were years ago. It's such an enjoyable area to be — in the middle of nowhere in the Finnish nature. Really focused on just that. What a luxury. How special to do that."

NIGHTWISH will release "Decades: Live In Buenos Aires" on December 6 as a Blu-ray digibook, 2CD digipak, Blu-ray+2CD earbook and 3LP via Nuclear Blast. The set was recorded on September 30, 2018 at Estadio Malvinas in Buenos Aires, Argentina during the "Decades" tour in support of the band's compilation album of the same name.

The "Decades" tour ran from March 9, 2018 to December 15, 2018 and consisted of stops in 82 cities across Europe, North America and South America.

METALLICA Donates $200,000 To Wildfire Relief Efforts

METALLICA has announced a new donation of $200,000 to help wildfire relief efforts in the state of California.

The band made the donation through its All Within My Hands non-profit foundation, which was launched in 2017 to help creating sustainable communities by tackling the issues of hunger and workforce education and encouraging volunteerism.

Wildfires have continued to ravage parts of both Northern and Southern California, consuming tens of thousands of acres, displacing thousands and knocking out power.

Earlier tonight, METALLICA released the following statement via its social media: "Sadly, for the third year in a row, communities we have called home throughout the state of California are again experiencing the tragedy left in the wake of wildfires.

"The All Within My Hands Foundation would like to lend support to those affected in both Northern and Southern California by donating $100,000 to assist in relief, $50,000 to the Sonoma County Resilience Fund - created by the Community Foundation Sonoma County - and $50,000 to the Wildfire Relief Fund - created by the California Community Foundation.

"Both organizations are dedicated to long-term recovery efforts, helping residents resume normal lives as they get back on their feet after the devastation of these firestorms. We would also like to encourage you to join us in supporting those in need as well as the first responders who have been working tirelessly to keep Californians safe. Whether you are able to contribute money, non-perishable food, clothing and other supplies, or your time by volunteering or providing temporary housing, every bit helps."

Last year, METALLICA donated $100,000 toward wildfire relief efforts in California.

Two years ago, METALLICA headlined a wildfire relief concert in San Francisco.

Sadly, for the third year in a row, communities we have called home throughout the state of California are again...

Posted by Metallica on Monday, November 4, 2019

3

ROBERT PLANT Can't Relate To 'Stairway To Heaven' Anymore

Robert Plant says that he can no longer "relate" to LED ZEPPELIN's 1971 masterpiece "Stairway To Heaven". During an appearance on the Ultimate Classic Rock Nights radio show, Plant spoke candidly about his feelings regarding the "Led Zeppelin IV" classic. "Of course, it was a good song," he said. "The construction of the song, the actual musical construction is very, very good. It's one of those moments that really can stand without a vocal — and, in fact, it will stand again without a vocal, I'm sure, because it's a fine, fine piece of music."

Plant went on to say: "Lyrically, now, I can't relate to it, because it was so long ago. I would have no intention ever to write along those abstract lines anymore. I look at it and I tip my hat to it, and I think there are parts of it that are incredible. The way that Jimmy [Page] took the music through, and the way that the drums reached almost climaxed and then continued... It's a very beautiful piece. But lyrically, now, and even vocally, I go, 'I'm not sure about that.'"

Several years ago, LED ZEPPELIN had to defend itself against a copyright lawsuit alleging "Stairway To Heaven" was stolen from an obscure 1960s instrumental. Jurors in the 2016 trial, which included testimony from Plant and Page, decided that "Stairway" did not infringe on "Taurus", written by the late Randy Wolfe and performed by his band SPIRIT.

During the trial, Plant recalled how he and Page had worked on "Stairway To Heaven" at Headley Grange, a former poorhouse in Hampshire, England. He said: "One evening, Jimmy Page and I sat by the fire, going over bits and pieces." He recalled leaving the rest of the band to work on the song while he went to his bedroom to write the song's lyrics, which he told the court were based on Celtic mythology and "the pastoral areas of Britain I love."

Ozzy Osbourne later said that he couldn't believe the members of LED ZEPPELIN had to defend themselves against the lawsuit. "It's fucking crazy, actually," the BLACK SABBATH singer told Rolling Stone. "That should have never gone to court. I heard the original thing, and there's just a slight similarity. It's like saying any fucking song with that kind of a guitar on it is a rip-off. It's not fair. There's only so many fucking notes on a guitar, and it wasn't that much like 'Stairway To Heaven'. I'm amazed it lasted so fucking long, you know?"

$/\\$

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