On November 13, Accuser will release their new self-titled album via Metal Blade Records. For a preview of Accuser, a performance video for the first single, "Phantom Graves", can be found below.
Since they began flying the flag for German thrash in the 80s, Accuser have gone on to prove themselves one of the most enduring forces in global metal. With eleven full-lengths behind them, they return in 2020 with their latest masterwork: a blistering collection that captures everything that makes the band so vital, produced by longtime collaborator Martin Buchwalter (who has worked on five Accuser albums) and mastered by Dan Swanö.
"You stay fresh through curiosity," states vocalist/guitarist Frank Thoms. "Writing new songs keeps you fresh, and it is always exciting how things develop and how the listener reacts to them afterwards. This process never gets boring. It is always exciting and invites you to try new things."
The result is a dynamic album that is very much rooted in thrash, but still takes the listener through various moods and styles, further cementing Accuser's status as leaders, not followers.
The return of lead guitarist René Schütz to the band's ranks - who appeared on multiple Accuser records prior to 2011 - only served to up the ante on Accuser.
"We are very, very happy to have him back in the band, and as you will be able to hear, his leads are definitely over the top. From my perspective, he is one of the very, very few thrash metal guitarists who are able to combine technique and feeling in a proper way."
With writing for the new record commencing as soon as 2018's The Mastery was completed, Thoms pushed himself until he was in "100% concentration mode", knowing he is on the right path when he forgets his daily routine and normal life falls away. With no structure or plan envisaged, the songs came together naturally, as they always have.
"The Accuser sound is in our DNA, and at the end of the day, it is our own blend of thrash metal. To be honest, that's what I like best during the process of making a record, seeing how the music develops and how the album is taking shape."
The shape Accuser took is definitely versatile, and perhaps sounds simpler than it actually is.
"We managed to make well thought-out songs sound simple. Crazy things don't seem like a disturbance or a foreign body. In addition, we have inconspicuously processed various genres of metal. Ultimately, we just tried to offer the essence of the band, the groove from 'Repent' (1992), the riffs in the veins of Who Dominates Who (1989), plus structures that could be found on the first album The Conviction (1987) and stylistics that could be from Reflections (1994) or Taken By The Throat (1995) - everything put together in catchy songs."
The combination of these elements that shout back to earlier Accuser releases - without repeating or copying themselves - alongside the return of Schütz, led Thoms to believe this album "must be called Accuser".
The record can be pre-ordered here in the following formats:
- digipak-CD (incl. bonus track)
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- golden brown marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- ivory / beige / grey marbled vinyl
- gold / black melt vinyl (Kings Road exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
Accuser tracklisting:
"Misled Obedience"
"Phantom Graves"
"Temple Of All"
"Lux in Tenebris"
"Be None The Wiser"
"Rethink"
"Psychocision"
"Contamination"
"The Eliminator"
"Seven Lives"
"A Cycle's End"
"Phantom Graves" video:
Accuser lineup:
Frank Thoms - vocals/guitars
René Schütz - guitars
Frank Kimpel - bass
Olli Fechner - drums
In the latest episode of AXS TV's "Rock & Roll Firsts", HALESTORM's Lzzy Hale discusses the first song she ever learned on an instrument, the first concert she attended, the first album she purchased and the first gig she ever played. Check it out below.
"Halestorm Reimagined", a collection of reworked HALESTORM original songs as well as a cover of "I Will Always Love You", the love ballad made famous by Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton, was made available on August 14.
Lzzy said in a recent interview with SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that she is using the downtime during the COVID-19 lockdown to keep working on material for HALESTORM's fifth studio LP.
HALESTORM has been writing and demoing material since January, with Hale saying she can record almost everything except drums in her home studio.
The next HALESTORM album will follow up 2018's "Vicious".
On July 29, 2020, rock supergroup Motor Sister - featuring Jim Wilson (Mother Superior), Scott Ian (Anthrax, The Damned Things), Pearl Aday (solo), Joey Vera (Armored Saint, Fates Warning), and John Tempesta (The Cult, Rob Zombie) - took part in Wacken:World:Wide, performing live at the Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California. Their complete show can be enjoyed below.
Setlist:
"A Hole"
"Beg Borrow Steal"
"Little Motor Sister"
"Can't Get High Enough"
"Coming For You"
"This Song Reminds Me Of You"
"Sooner Or Later"
"Pretty In The Morning"
"Fool Around"
"Right There Just Like That"
"Fork In The Road"
"Rolling Boy Blues"
"Devil Wind"
Joe Satriani has released the new video below, along with the following message:
"Alyssa Day brings new energy and finesse to 'Shapeshifting' with some melodic twists, sweep picking blasts and some crazy-fast picking up and down the fretboard. She blends soulful in-the-pocket phrasing with explosive licks in such a unique way."
"At the heart of it is my love for composing unique and moving music for the electric guitar. I love the journey as much as the end result. With this compilation of backing tracks you get to peak behind the curtain a bit and experience that journey as I built the songs in the studio. And, of course, you can play along!" - Joe Satriani
Stripped x Three features full backing tracks from the complete Shapeshifting, Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards and"Is There Love in Space? albums, a special digital compilation booklet with original liner notes and credits and it is all packaged within a replica Joe Satriani Ibanez signature guitar USB stick and custom case. Pre-order here.
Satriani on Stripped x Three: "This collection represents three albums of backing tracks released years apart from each other spanning 16 years: Is There Love In Space? from 2004, Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards from 2010, and 2020's Shapeshifting. Three remarkably different albums recorded and mixed in remarkably different locations. At the heart of it is my love for composing unique and moving music for the electric guitar. Each album project I undertake pushes me to discover new ways to write , play, produce and record. I love the journey as much as the end result. With this compilation of backing tracks you get to peak behind the curtain a bit and experience that journey as I built the songs in the studio. And, of course, you can play along!"
Vital, venerated, and vintage, when DIAMOND HEAD first released "Lightning To The Nations" forty years ago in 1980, few could have predicted the importance it would carry — and establish — with regards to heavy metal's new wave and sound. Stacked and packed with riffs, "Lightning To The Nations" would be one of the prime catalysts for a movement known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). It would also prove the premier template for a band who would become the biggest rock band on the planet, METALLICA. But back then, in their humble Stourbridge, U.K. home, DIAMOND HEAD had no real idea that the seven songs they had recorded for that debut album would have such a reverberation.
The first single/video to be released, "It's Electric", shows levels of fresh energy and the potency of timeless riffage that will blow the doors and socks off all who hear it. On the song, founding member, lead guitarist/songsmith Brian Tatler comments: "It was written on the 15th of June 1978; it was the forty-fifth song DIAMOND HEAD ever wrote. It was kind of our version of an AC/DC song. I had noticed that AC/DC had gaps in their riffs so I thought I would do one in that vein and out came 'It's Electric'. It was fast and exciting and soon found its way into our live set. We had the pleasure of opening for AC/DC in January 1980 and performed 'It's Electric' in the set. I looked over to my left and noticed we were being watched by Bon Scott!"
"It's Electric" was the first DIAMOND HEAD song that Lars Ulrich ever heard on the 1980 MCA compilation album "Brute Force". "It seemed so right, it seemed so fresh, it seemed so effortless and above all, it seemed so fucking special. Three and a half minutes after the needle hit the record on 'It's Electric' by DIAMOND HEAD, I was hooked."
"METALLICA covered this song on their 1998 album 'Garage, Inc.'," continues Tatler, "Sean and I wrote 'It's Electric' in the key of G but METALLICA transposed it to F# to make it easier to play. I have played it their way ever since. "
"Lightning To The Nations 2020" will be released on November 20 via Silver Lining Music in CD digipak, double gatefold vinyl, and digital formats as well as special D2C bundles.
As the fortieth anniversary loomed, "Lightning To The Nations"' resonance and importance are since long-established, which meant a celebration was in order and Brian Tatler, alongside vocalist and producer Rasmus Bom Andersen, knew exactly what they wanted to do. "We thought it'd be great to re-record the debut album with this lineup and the modern technology available," says Tatler. "The original album was recorded and mixed in a week, and we were very young; still 19-20 years old when it was recorded, so there's a lot of that youthful energy. But we didn't have the technique, time, or craftsmanship to record it with the sort of power that we could now. So that was a real thing to savor: the opportunity to go in the studio and record these songs fresh and vibrant."
"Lightning To The Nations 2020" is an achievement along those lines and then some. It is, quite simply, a scintillating shot of fresh metal energy, with DIAMOND HEAD utilizing all their skill, experience, and revitalized energy to breathe so much new life into these freshly recorded takes that it feels like experiencing the earth shaking all over again.
Recorded over several sessions between various locations from France to band member home studios, "Lightning To The Nations 2020"'s central hub was Andersen's Raw Sound Studios in London. It's where Tatler and Andrew "Abbz" Abberley did the guitars in February and March of this year. With the COVID-19 chaos striking, Andersen worked on the album between April and July, with Tatler's watchful ear inspecting final mixes and tweaks in early August before sending off to mastering at Metropolis Studios. It is, however, fair to say that the crunch, scream, and crackle of the production is yet another feather in Andersen's producer hat.
As if these carefully shaped recordings weren't enough, there are four supreme cover versions rounding out the release, with DIAMOND HEAD spreading their wings and creating the heaviest of homages to LED ZEPPELIN, JUDAS PRIEST, DEEP PURPLE, and... METALLICA. With DIAMOND HEAD having featured so heavily in METALLICA's early career, the cover of "No Remorse" seems especially appropriate.
Concludes Tatler: "'Lightning To The Nations 2020' is packed with ideas and riffs, but there is some thought gone into it all, and maybe that's why it still sounds really good now and we're still having conversations about it."
Helion Prime have released a lyric video for the fourth single, "Photo 51", off of their upcoming album Question Everything, due out on October 5 in North America along with Europe via their label Saibot Reigns and October 28 in Japan via Ward Records. The Japanese CD version will feature two exclusive bonus tracks "Prof" (Demo) and "Rain" (Trivium cover).
The band comments on "Photo 51": "We are very happy to release the final single for our album Question Everything, which comes out one week from today! This song is called 'Photo 51' and based on...Photo 51! The first photograph of DNA. This song is a favorite among the band from the new album and those who have heard it seem to claim it as a favorite as well! It might just become a new staple in our live sets! We hope you enjoy 'Photo 51'! And thank you to Scott Kennedy from 12 Inch Media for creating it."
Question Everything was mixed by Chris Collier and mastered by Brett Caldas-Lima with additional mixing/drum edits/reamping by Alex Nasla of Gear Gods Studio. Guitar/Bass edits by Michael Goodrich and cover art by Marc Whisnant.
"The Final Theory"
"Madame Mercury"
"Prof"
"The Gadfly"
"Photo 51"
"E Pur Si Muove"
"Words of The Abbot" ft. guest vocals John Yelland (Judicator, Dire Peril)
"The Forbidden Zone"
"Question Everything" ft. Heather Michele (ex-Graveshadow, ex-Helion Prime) and Sozos Michael (ex-Helion Prime, Planeswalker)
"Reawakening"
"Kong at the Gates" (Misfits Cover)
"The Gadfly" video:
"Madame Mercury" lyric video:
"The Forbidden Zone" lyric video:
Helion Prime lineup:
Jason Ashcraft - Guitar
Chad Bill Anderson - Guitar
Mary Zimmer - Vocals
Alex Bosson - Drums
Jeremy Steinhouse - Bass
For the past decade, THE PRETTY RECKLESS has been putting out stadium-worthy rock anthems. Their sophomore album, 2014's "Going To Hell", earned the group three No. 1 rock hits on Billboard, including for "Heaven Knows".
For the latest episode of Grammy.com's "Press Play" series, the powerhouse act performs an acoustic rendition of "House On A Hill" from "Going To Hell". Frontwoman Taylor Momsen describes the heart-wrenching song (inspired by the Vietnam War) as a "cry for humanity."
THE PRETTY RECKLESS's upcoming album, "Death By Rock And Roll", is the band's first to be made without longtime producer Kato Khandwala, who died in April 2018 from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident.
"Death By Rock And Roll" will be released in early 2021 via Fearless Records in the U.S. and Century Media Records in the rest of the world.
Momsen has confirmed that RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE guitarist Tom Morello guests on "Death By Rock And Roll". Morello appears on a track called "And So It Went".
Morello joins previously announced guests Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron from SOUNDGARDEN. The song with Cameron and Thayil, called "Only Love Can Save Me Now", was recorded at Seattle's legendary London Bridge Studios, where seminal LPs like PEARL JAM's "Ten" and SOUNDGARDEN's "Louder Than Love" were laid down.
Classical guitar virtuoso Thomas Zwijsen has released the new video below, featuring his acoustic finger style ukulele cover of Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name".
Zwijsen previously released an acoustic fingerstyle ukulele cover of the Dio classic, "Rainbow In The Dark". Watch below:
In the video below, Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro can be seen performing a playthrough clip for his new song, "Overflow":
"Overflow" is the lead-off track on Kiko Loureiro's new solo album, Open Source. Order your copy here, and find a full audio stream below.
A recent message from Kiko states: "By definition, 'open source' is related to softwares which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. It brings us a higher sense of community, enhances our creativity and creates new possibilities. So why not take this concept to our art, our music? How much richer a song could be if others had access to its source code? What if the song's original composition wasn't the final product? What if it was just the beginning? Something that could be constantly updated and evolve over time. And as well as a machine, we as humans are also minded to enhancements, being an open source ourselves, constantly moving and growing, through technology, science, spirituality… and art. This is the mindset which I bring now to my fifth solo album, that was named... guess what? OPEN SOURCE!"
Tracklisting:
"Overflow
"EDM (e-Dependent Mind)"
"Imminent Threat"
"Liquid Times"
"Sertão"
"Vital Signs"
"Dreamlike"
"Black Ice"
"In Motion"
"Running With The Bulls"
"Du Monde"
Marilyn Manson's music video for the song "Don't Chase The Dead" can be seen below. The clip stars Manson alongside Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl Dixon on "The Walking Dead".
"Don't Chase The Dead" is taken from Manson's eleventh studio album, "We Are Chaos", which was released on September 11 via Loma Vista Recordings. Produced by Grammy Award winner Shooter Jennings (Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker) and Manson, the ten-track opus was written, recorded, and finished before a pandemic blanketed us all.
Manson's painting "Infinite Darkness", which can be seen on the album cover, was specifically created to accompany the music. His fine art paintings continue to be shown all over the world, including gallery and museum exhibitions from Miami to Vienna to Moscow.
Manson said of the album: "When I listen to 'We Are Chaos' now, it seems like just yesterday or as if the world repeated itself, as it always does, making the title track and the stories seem as if we wrote them today. This was recorded to its completion without anyone hearing it until it was finished. There is most definitely a side A and side B in the traditional sense. But just like an LP, it is a flat circle and it's up to the listener to put the last piece of the puzzle into the picture of songs.
"This concept album is the mirror Shooter and I built for the listener — it's the one we won't stare into. There are so many rooms, closets, safes and drawers. But in the soul or your museum of memories, the worst are always the mirrors. Shards and slivers of ghosts haunted my hands when I wrote most of these lyrics.
"Making this record, I had to think to myself: 'Tame your crazy, stitch your suit. And try to pretend that you are not an animal' but I knew that mankind is the worst of them all. Making mercy is like making murder. Tears are the human body's largest export."
Manson continues to infiltrate fashion, film, and music, leaving his fingerprints on modern culture. Saint Laurent tapped him for a campaign, Travis Scott personally invited him to perform at the sold-out Astroworld festival, GQ named him one of the most fashionable men of 2019, he appeared as an actor in everything from "Sons Of Anarchy" to "American Gods" to "The New Pope", and also co-headlined several "Twins Of Evil" tours with Rob Zombie.
Apocalyptica have released footage of their performance of Metallica's "Master Of Puppets" at With Full Force Festival 2018. Watch below:
Apocalyptica recently released their new digital single, "Talk To Me" featuring Halestorm's Lzzy Hale. Get it here, and watch a lyric video below.
"After years of friendship we are more than happy to release a song together with the amazing Lzzy of Halestorm! This song has been in our minds for quite some time and we have been waiting for the right moment to finish it, and getting Lzzy to join us and perform in her outstanding way was a dream come true! We want to thank Lzzy and the whole Halestorm team for their great work and friendship." - Eicca Toppinen
“Apocalyptica and I have for years talked about doing something together, and the last time I saw Eicca Toppinen, in Helsinki, Finland during the 2019 Tuska Festival, he brought up the idea that we finally make that talk a reality. I’m so excited for the world to hear this song! Thank you so much to the entire Apocalyptica camp for being a part of our family all these years and for including me in this project!” - Lzzy Hale
The Epic Apocalypse Tour featuring Epica and Apocalyptica, with support by Helsinki prog metallers Wheel, has been postponed till Spring 2021.
Japanese drum prodigy Yoyoka Soma, who has become a YouTube sensation and has attracted the attention of KISS icon Gene Simmons and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, has teamed up with Mr. Big / Sons Of Apollo bass legend Billy Sheehan, ZO2 vocalist Paulie Z, and guitarist Brandon Paul for a lockdown cover of Mr. Big's "Take Cover". Check it out below.
"Take Cover" is taken from the 1996 Mr. Big album, Hey Man.
Yoyoka previously teamed up with Paulie Z, bassist Koichi Terasawa (ex-SLY) and guitarist Satsuma3042 to record a lockdown cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Over The Mountain". Check it out below.
Video of Sammy Hagar playing "improv" guitar over his CHICKENFOOT bandmate Joe Satriani's "Up In Flames" can be seen below.
Hagar said: "Joe having me play guitar amongst some of the greatest guitarist on earth is like me asking Joe to sing on one of my records with Robert Plant, Stephen Tyler [sic], Axl Rose.... I think you get the picture. When in doubt of what to do, just fucking do it!"
Added Joe: "Sammy is rock 'n' roll! One thing I miss about CHICKENFOOT is playing rhythm guitar on stage while Sammy rips up a few solos. Put a Les Paul in his hands, plug it into a Marshall amp, turn it up, and he delivers the goods. He's a natural. Watch him alternate between melodic phrases and face-ripping lines over 'Up In Flames'."
The backing track is from Joe's new release "Stripped x Three", three albums of songs with the lead and melodies removed. Full backing tracks from the complete "Shapeshifting", "Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards" and "Is There Love In Space?" albums are included, along with a special digital compilation booklet with original liner notes and credits and it is all packaged within a replica Joe Satriani Ibanez signature guitar USB stick and custom case.
Said Joe: "At the heart of it is my love for composing unique and moving music for the electric guitar. I love the journey as much as the end result. With this compilation of backing tracks, you get to peak behind the curtain a bit and experience that journey as I built the songs in the studio. And, of course, you can play along!"
CHICKENFOOT, which features Satriani, Hagar, ex-VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith, has been largely inactive since 2012 when it toured with Kenny Aronoff on drums due to Smith's busy schedule with his main band.
In 2018, CHICKENFOOT reunited at the Fillmore in San Francisco during the fifth annual "Acoustic-4-A-Cure" benefit concert. The even marked the band's first performance together in just over two years.
US rockers Hydrogyn have released an official video for their new single, "Disappear". The song is taken from the forthcoming release, The Boiling Point, available on October 30th via RFL Records.
Hydrogyn founder and guitarist Jeff Westlake has surrounded himself with an all-new lineup for Hydrogyn’s latest release, the band’s first since 2017.
Westlake and bandmates Holly Hines Freed (vocals), Ryan Stepp (guitar) Jacob Freed (bass) and Scot Clayton II (drums) draw inspiration from all of their collective influences to create a fresh sound that will melt your speakers.
From the first single, "Hostage", featuring Hines Freed’s powerhouse vocals, to scorching rockers such as "Damaged Goods", "Wickedness" and "Bats In The Belfry", the band is sounding bigger, better and tighter than ever.
For information and updates on Hydrogyn check out their official Facebook page here.
Las Vegas, NV based rock band Wicked Garden has released the official music video for their new single, "Home, Too Far". Written and directed by Dominick Muzio and Shawn Trojahn, the video for "Home, Too Far" was filmed by Stephy Hayward of Livewire Photography and edited by Nicholas Muzio at Die-Hearts Productions.
"This is a song about loss, and how you can never get back the time you have with someone once they are gone. And while the term 'Home' refers to an afterlife or another plane of existence, it's too far away for the people that have been left behind" - Dominick Muzio (lead singer / guitarist).
"I was frustrated by not having written anything in a while. Then when I came up with this riff, I knew it had something. It was different from our other songs, but still sounded like us" - Shawn Trojahn (lead guitarist).
For further details, visit Wicked Garden on Facebook.
Drum-cam footage of ANTHRAX performing the song "Be All, End All" in 2018, with Jon Dette filling in for Charlie Benante, can be seen below.
For the past few years, Benante has been forced to miss certain shows on the band's tour due to his continuing battle with carpal tunnel syndrome.
Charlie told San Antonio Metal Music Examiner about his inability to make all the dates on ANTHRAX's tours: "Unfortunately, we're like athletes, and like athletes, they suffer from certain things. I suffer from carpal tunnel problems. But I try and do as much as I could when I can. So we still wanna keep the band… We don't wanna disappoint people. So that's why we do it that way."
Charlie told San Antonio Metal Music Examiner about his inability to make all the dates on ANTHRAX's tours: "Unfortunately, we're like athletes, and like athletes, they suffer from certain things. I suffer from carpal tunnel problems. But I try and do as much as I could when I can. So we still wanna keep the band… We don't wanna disappoint people. So that's why we do it that way."
Dette first stepped in for Benante during ANTHRAX's appearance at the Soundwave festival in 2013 and at a number of European shows in 2014. Jon told "The Blairing Out With Eric Blair Show" how he initially got the call to sub for Charlie: "Actually, Jason Bittner from SHADOWS FALL, who was filling in for Charlie on [the 2012] ANTHRAX run, couldn't do one of the tours that was coming up and called me and asked me if I would be available to do it. And I said, 'Of course. It would be great.' And the next day Charlie called me — which, Charlie is one my biggest influences ever, next to [Dave] Lombardo [of SLAYER], so it was kind of a surreal moment for me to get a call like that, saying, 'Hey, can you help me out?' Which, of course, I said, 'Absolutely.'"
Asked how it felt to be playing with ANTHRAX, Dette said: "It's amazing, man. The first day that I started playing drums — a lot of people may or may not know this — the first album I ever got from the day I got my drum set was 'Fistful Of Metal' [by ANTHRAX], and literally, the first song I ever tried playing on drums was 'Metal Thrashing Mad'. Actually, I [was] hanging out with Charlie and I told him that this morning, and he was, like, 'Really?' And I'm, like, 'Yeah, really.' [laughs] ANTHRAX, METALLICA and SLAYER, they were such a foundation of my style growing up, and I've been privileged now to actually play for two of those bands [ANTHRAX and SLAYER]. It's a very natural thing for me to play, but at the same time, seeing the back of their heads on stage, and Joey [Belladonna] is looking at me and he's singing, and I'm just, like, 'This is great.' I guess you can say that I play with a lot of passion when I'm with those bands, 'cause it's just absolutely passion and just an amazing experience."
Sammy Hagar and his CIRCLE bandmates have once teamed up via the Internet to record music.
After previously connecting via their smartphones from four separate locations to lay down a brand new song titled "Funky Feng Shui", as well as covers of THE WHO's "Won't Get Fooled Again", VAN HALEN's "Good Enough", BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS' "Three Little Birds", BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD's "For What It's Worth", Little Richard's "Keep A-Knockin'" and AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie", among others, they have now regrouped — in a virtual sense — to cover SAMMY HAGAR AND THE WABORITAS' "Sympathy For The Human". Check out video of the performance below.
Hagar said: "This song has always been one of my favorite's from the WABO era. Whenever we started a show with this song it always ended up being a great one. Sympathy for the Human — ain't it the truth."
This past May, SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE's U.S. tour with NIGHT RANGER was officially canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe. Produced by Live Nation, the outing was scheduled to kick off July 9 in West Palm Beach, Florida at iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre and make stops in Tampa, Cincinnati, Dallas, Phoenix and more, before wrapping September 20 in Chula Vista, California at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre.
Joining Hagar in THE CIRCLE are bassist Michael Anthony (VAN HALEN, CHICKENFOOT), drummer Jason Bonham (BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, JASON BONHAM'S LED ZEPPELIN EVENING) and guitarist Vic Johnson (THE WABORITAS).
THE CIRCLE's first album of all-original material, "Space Between", was released in May 2019 via BMG.
Guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen has just released a new solo single, "Raise The Cain". The track, the official lyric video for which can be seen below, features a guest appearance by Kotzen's THE WINERY DOGS bandmate, drummer Mike Portnoy.
"Raise The Cain" marks the first new solo music from Kotzen since the release of his 22nd solo album, "50 For 50", which came out in February via his own custom label, Headroom-Inc. That three-disc set was just what the title implies: a collection of 50 previously unreleased compositions produced, performed and written by Kotzen in honor of his birthday.
Richie explained his decision to release "Raise The Cain" in a social media post earlier today. He wrote: "So after releasing a 50 song original album at the start of 2020 I had absolutely no intention of releasing any more new music at any point this year. At least after doing some touring to support the '50 for 50' release… Well, That didn't happen…LOL. Suddenly I found myself like all of us locked up wondering what now? As one could have easily predicted I started receiving some new musical inspiration and new ideas from who knows where…
"The nucleus of this song came out of a phone conversation I had with my fellow Winery Dog band mate @MikePortnoy at the start of our Covid quarantine. He mentioned his drums were miked up and that he had been doing some recording. I said 'hey Mike, I've got an idea for you if you're up for it… Take 4 or 5 different tempos and different grooves and lay down a few song forms. Pretend I'm jamming with you and record as if it were a song. Once you get them sorted send them off to me and I'll see if I can edit some of your beats and possibly write them into songs.'
"I ended up writing the riff to Mike's 7/8 drum groove which then lead me down the road to completing a song which is 'Raise The Cain'.
"Initially I thought of sitting on the track to include on a full length album down the road but then reality sank back in. Why bother? Why bother sitting on a finished track and letting it sit on a hard drive until who knows when? No good reason to do that so here we are with yet another RK single release featuring some badass drumming from Master @mikeportnoy.
"I hope you all dig it!"
THE WINERY DOGS were founded in 2012 after Portnoy and bassist Billy Sheehan — who initially aimed to collaborate with former WHITESNAKE and BLUE MURDER guitarist John Sykes — reached out to Kotzen, who played with Sheehan in MR. BIG from 1997 to 2002. The group's 2013 self-titled debut reached No. 27 on the Billboard 200 after selling more than 10,000 copies in the U.S. during its first week of availability. The initial sales of follow-up effort "Hot Streak" were even better, as the album debuted at No. 30 in late 2015 after shifting 13,000 equivalent album units in America during its first week of availability.
The official music video for Corey Taylor's new song "Culture Head" can be seen below. The track is the latest single from Taylor's debut solo album, "CMFT", which will be released on October 2 via Roadrunner Records. Taylor recorded the effort with his band consisting of Jason Christopher on bass, Dustin Schoenhofer on drums, and Zach Throne and Christian Martucci (STONE SOUR) on guitar. The LP was completed at Kevin Churko's The Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas with producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER and STONE SOUR, among others.
"I love what I've done in the past, I love the projects that I've been attached to, but this, honestly, was probably the most enjoyable album that I've done since the first SLIPKNOT album," Corey told Kerrang! magazine. "There was such a sense of, 'We're doing it together.' I hadn't felt anything like that for a really long time, man. People grow apart, relationships become fractious… people stop liking each other sometimes, in certain bands, you know? But with this, it was totally different, because we were all friends before that. We just happened to all play together, and then we formed a band around that friendship, and it all really galvanized it.
"This has definitely made me appreciate making music again, let's put it that way," he added.
The first three singles from the album, "CMFT Must Be Stopped", "Black Eyes Blue" and "HWY 666", were released in July and early September and are available on all streaming platforms now.
"I was talking to my wife about this the other day — I was, like, 'Fuck! There's nobody for me to hide behind!'" Corey told Kerrang! "It's easy to take risks when you have the benefit of a well-established name — and by that, I mean the bands that I've been in for 20 years. But I also feel like I've earned the right to put something out there and throw people for a loop — not only with the things that I've done with both bands, but the guest spots that I've done with several bands: everybody from TONIGHT ALIVE to Zakk Wylde to Tech N9ne. I mean, I've really spread out, in a cool way. I've never sequestered myself to one corner of the genre; I've never allowed myself to be painted into a corner. And I think because of that, people's minds are a lot more open when they hear that I'm putting something out. They're gonna come into it with this mindset of, 'Okay, I don't know what the fuck I'm about to hear. This should be interesting. I think by doing that, that really sets the tone for your career."
SLIPKNOT recently canceled all of its previously announced summer 2020 tour dates, including the "Knotfest Roadshow", Knotfest UK and Knotfest At Sea, due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe.
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