British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST kicked off their spring/summer 2022 European tour with an intimate concert this past Tuesday night (May 31) in Berlin, Germany. For the gig, which was held at the 1,600-capacity Huxleys Neue Welt venue, Rob Halford and his bandmates ditched their traditional leather-and-studs look in favor of a more stripped-down appearance.
More fan-filmed video of the Berlin concert can be seen below.
After the show, PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner took to his social media to share a photo of the performance, and he included the following message: "Last night in #berlin was glorious and something I've never done with the band before. No leather, no studs. No screens, no motorbike. No massive light show or inflatable Birmingham bull. Exposed speakers, just jeans, t-shirts, a small club and it was all purely about the music. All of us together and the raw power of the music. It was truly a great experience and one I'd love to do again sometime.
"It's great when you strip it all back to what it's all about, the music and the people of our great heavy metal community.
"Thank you all for making it such a special night.
"Onwards we roll to #gdansk #poland for the @festivalmystic".
In a 2021 interview with Spain's Mariskal Rock, Halford was asked who wore the "leather biker look" first — him or late QUEEN frontman Freddie Mercury. He responded: "I remember seeing a picture of Freddie with his leather jacket and a cap and a motorcycle, and I'm, like, 'What the fuck is going on, Freddie?' [Laughs]
"I love him. Freddie is a god — he's a god," Rob continued. "His music, his voice, his showmanship, his personality, his charisma. There'll never, ever be another Freddie Mercury.
"But as far as who wore it first, I think I did probably — maybe by a year or two," Halford added. "Yeah, if that's important. I don't know. Is it important? I'll tell you something: we both look good in leather. [Laughs]"
Four years ago, former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist K.K. Downing was quoted as saying in Greg Prato's book "Long Live Queen: Rock Royalty Discuss Freddie, Brian, John & Roger" that Halford "definitely" pulled off the "leather biker look" better than Mercury. "Actually, that's probably one of the best questions I've ever been asked," Downing said. "Because both of the guys, obviously being gay and both obviously having donned the leathers — which is par for the course — I think the difference was it became Rob's ultimate and permanent image. Whereas Freddie did it for a bit of fun, I think. But [it is] a fun question — I like that a lot. Definitely Rob looked like the epitome — as I hope we all did, together, when we all eventually got into the leather gear — of an archetypal heavy metal band."
In his 2018 autobiography "Heavy Duty: Days And Nights In Judas Priest", Downing claimed to have come up with PRIEST black-leather look. Asked what inspired it in the first place, K.K. told Rolling Stone: "I don't know. I had some pretty cool looks in the early days. I started off with a black, swashbuckling look. There was a place called the Birmingham Reparatory Theatre and underneath it were massive alcoves of all these theatrical clothes. We found out we could rent those clothes, and that became me and Rob's spot. We looked through all these things, and that's why we wore some of these coats and boots; they were all rented from this theater. I think we eventually got told off because we didn't return the clothes in time. [Laughs] We just held on to them. Eventually, we got a little bit of money and started having clothes of our own made and the look just came piece by piece. [Laughs]"
Asked if it was easy to get the rest of the band on board, Downing said: "Some members in the band like to think everything's their idea. I thought, 'I'll get Rob on board to start with.' There were a couple of gay guys at the leather shop in London and Rob was in his element [laughs] with these guys fitting him out in all this leather gear. Gays were already wearing leather in London so it was an easy sell for Rob. He was on board with that but also because we weren't trying to do that; we were doing the leather-and-studs thing in a metal way. Then he started to design all of his clothes. 'I'm having the bullwhip. I'm having this cap made.' Rob was happy for them to know that he was a gay man, but at a certain point, it started to look like a gladiator, which was completely done in metal. It opened up a massive amount of doors for him to elaborate on throughout our career."
In his 2020 autobiography "Confess", Halford credited Downing with the idea of PRIEST dressing in black leather in 1978. He wrote: "The biggest myth about this new stage gear is that I had somehow masterminded the image as a cover and a vent for my homosexuality — that I was getting a thrill from dressing on stage as I'd like to dress in the street, or the bedroom. This is utter bollocks. I had no interest in S&M, domination or the whole queer subcult of leather and chains. It just didn't do it for me. My sexual preference was for men, sure, but I was — and still am — pretty vanilla."
Los Angeles symphonic prog metallers Anthea announces their return in 2022 with their sophomore album, Tales Untold, to be released once again via Rockshots Records this coming August to follow their 2020 debut, Illusion.
For the new album, Anthea has taken the reigns for a more DIY approach with vocalist Diego Valadez taking over also as the full-length's producer along with bassist Eric “EJ” Guerrero in charge of music videos and photography.
“We released our debut album in 2020, but were, unfortunately, like everyone else, unable to tour or play live gigs. However, this gave us a lot of extra time to really craft this follow-up album into something special. Tales Untold was written and recorded throughout 2021 and I am so proud of the end result,” adds Valadez.
Fans of Anthea's first album, Illusion, will enjoy this one even more. The difference with this next record is that Anthea has a more mature sound and has carefully thought out the ebb and flow throughout it. Their end goal is to give a very dynamic and cinematic album in which the listener feels as though they’ve gone through a grand musical journey once they’ve reached the end. "We also wanted to create a sense of escapism while keeping one foot in the real world, lyrically."
In a preview of the album, Anthea is sharing a new music video for its title track, "Tales Untold". The opening song is about how art inspires new generations of art forms whether it be novels, music, movies, poetry, etc.
"I just find the interconnectivity of it all fascinating. This song itself wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the music that we were influenced by, and their music wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for what they were listening to, and so on and so on," says Valadez.
Tales Untold is due out on August 26, 2022. It will be available in CD, vinyl, and digital formats. The artwork and tracklisting can be viewed below:
"Tales Untold"
"Ascendence"
"Song For Winter"
"The Deceiver"
"Sapiens"
"Memoriam"
"Looking Glass"
"Empyrean"
"Sunder Heart"
"In Time"
British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN played the third show of the 2022 leg of their "Legacy Of The Beast" world tour on May 26 at Romexpo in Bucharest, Romania. It marked the band's third live appearance in 31 months.
As was the case with the May 22 concert at the Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia and the May 24 show in Belgrade, Serbia, MAIDEN opened the set with "Senjutsu", the title track of its latest studio album, and followed it up with two more songs from the same LP, "Stratego" and "The Writing On The Wall".
Other tracks aired during MAIDEN's performance included "Revelations", "Blood Brothers", "Sign Of The Cross", "Flight Of Icarus", "Fear Of The Dark", "Hallowed Be Thy Name", "The Number Of The Beast" and "Iron Maiden".
MAIDEN also played two encores, consisting of "The Trooper", "The Clansman", "Run To The Hills" and the closing track of the night, "Aces High".
The full setlist was as follows:
01. Senjutsu
02. Stratego
03. The Writing On The Wall
04. Revelations
05. Blood Brothers
06. Sign Of The Cross
07. Flight Of Icarus
08. Fear Of The Dark
09. Hallowed Be Thy Name
10. The Number Of The Beast
11. Iron Maiden
Encore:
12. The Trooper
13. The Clansman
14. Run To The Hills
Encore 2:
15. Aces High
Prior to the Zagreb concert, IRON MAIDEN hadn't performed live in two and a half years — since the completion of its South American tour in October 2019.
Earlier this year, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson confirmed that the band is planning to stage a tour where it will perform its new album, "Senjutsu", in its entirety. The 63-year-old singer told the "Talk Is Jericho" podcast: "The plan we've got — it's not really a secret; I think everybody else has chatted about it — we will, I hope, we've talked about doing the entire ['Senjutsu'] album start to finish, but not this time around. And we all appreciate that that is something that really diehard fans will probably love and other people will go, 'Hmmm, I'm not gonna go see that.' So the answer is you play smaller venues so that they sell out with just your diehard fans. 'Cause it's a musical thing to do — it's a musical thing."
Dickinson went on to clarify that the 2022 leg of MAIDEN's "Legacy Of The Beast" tour, which is scheduled to hit North America in September and October, will once again focus primarily on a decades-spanning setlist of fan favorites.
"The 'Legacy Of The Beast' tour, people have all paid their money to see the 'Legacy Of The Beast' show, with Spitfires and flamethrowers and Icarus and everything that goes with," he said. "So they're gonna get all that. But the first three tracks are probably gonna be the first three tracks on the ['Senjutsu'] album. 'The Writing On The Wall' they already know, so everybody should know the first three tracks. And I just think [the] 'Senjutsu' [title track] is just such a great opening song — so dramatic. And then once you've done that — and we'll have a stage set to go with it — once you've done that, you're back to the kind of 'Legacy' world at that point. But I think 'The Writing On The Wall' is gonna be a great song — I mean, a crowd singalong song. You can imagine that. It'll be fantastic."
Addressing the fact that MAIDEN infuriated some fans by forcing them to sit through the band's then-new, 75-minute "A Matter Of Life And Death" album on tour in 2006, denying the crowd the greatest hits they'd come for, Bruce said: "Nobody has to buy a ticket. If you don't wanna go [see us play an entire new album live], you don't buy a ticket. It's gonna be plain as the nose on your face. This is gonna be what they're gonna do. So given that, don't complain that they did what they said they were gonna do."
Clocking in at a hefty 82 minutes, "Senjutsu" came out in September. It marks MAIDEN's second consecutive double album behind 2015's "The Book Of Souls" which is the longest MAIDEN album, with a running time of 92 minutes.
IRON MAIDEN's first album in six years, "Senjutsu" was recorded in 2019 in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris. It features three tracks whose running time exceeds 10 minutes each.
For "Senjutsu" — loosely translated as "tactics and strategy" — the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai-themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Harris.
"Senjutsu" bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, charting higher than even the band's early classics like "Powerslave" and "The Number Of The Beast". Nearly 90 percent of the LP's 64,000 equivalent album units earned came from pure album sales. The critically acclaimed double album debuted one place higher than 2015's "The Book Of Souls" and 2010's "The Final Frontier", which both peaked at No. 4.
"Senjutsu" was MAIDEN's 13th album to top in the Top 40 in the U.S.
According to Billboard, "Senjutsu" logged the second-largest week of 2021 for a hard rock album in both equivalent album units earned and in traditional album sales.
"Senjutsu" topped the charts in several European countries upon its release, including in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.
Courtesy of Duke TV, the clip below features Black Star Riders / ex-The Almighty frontman Ricky Warwick performing a sold out show at G2 in Glasgow, Scotland. Check out pro-shot footage of The Almighty's "Wrench" Warwick's solo song "Fighting Heart" below.
For the process of recording his latest solo album, When Life Was Hard And Fast, Ricky was joined by Robert Crane (bass), Xavier Muriel (drums) and Keith Nelson (guitar) as well as a number of special guests including Def Leppard's Joe Elliott, Andy Taylor formerly of Duran Duran, Thunder's Luke Morley, Dizzy Reed of the mighty Guns 'N Roses and even Ricky's daughter Pepper. Keith also produced the new album, having previously worked with Buckcherry, Blackberry Smoke and Alice Cooper.
Keith noted that, "Ricky is a true rock-n-roll soul... he’s got incredible stories to tell and a unique way of telling them. It’s been an honor to be asked to partner and contribute to this record.”
When Life Was Hard And Fast tracklisting:
"When Life Was Hard And Fast"
"You Don't Love Me"
"I'd Rather Be Hit"
"Gunslinger"
"Never Corner A Rat"
"Time Don't Seem To Matter"
"Fighting Heart"
"I Don't Feel At Home"
"Still Alive"
"Clown Of Misery"
"You're My Rock N Roll"
Stairwell Troubadour tracklisting:
"You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)" (Dead Or Alive cover)
"Ooops!...I Did It Again" (Britney Spears cover)
"Summertime Blues" (Eddie Cochran cover)
"1000 Dollar Car" (Bottle Rockets cover)
"Cocaine Blues" (Johnny Cash cover)
"I Don't Want To Grow Up" (Ramones cover)
"I Fought The Law" (The Clash cover)
"Burning Love" (Elvis Presley cover)
"Jesus Loves You...But I Don't" (The Almighty cover)
"Wrathchild" (Iron Maiden cover)
Canada’s Dead Tired have unleashed a brand new single, “Predatory Loans”, from their upcoming record, Satan Will Follow You Home.
The furious new track highlights the epidemic of unethical payday loan establishments. “Predatory Loans” offers an absolute pummelling of anger and aggression, tapping into the heightened social, economic, and political unrest engulfing a growing percentage of the globe.
The track is the band's second offering from the record, following up on the previously released dual singles: “Domestic” and “New World Pigs”. The self-produced album features 10 unrelenting new tracks, and is available July 8 via New Damage Records.
Dead Tired is fronted by Alexisonfire vocalist George Pettit, who also steps into the role of chief lyricist. “For a while there, it seemed like every time a business tanked in Hamilton it was replaced by some shady payday loan joint,” says Pettit. “Downtown was littered with these greedy little establishments looking to leach as much money as they could out of desperate people. One was offering free pizza slices with a payday loan. Something about that repulsed me enough to write the lyrics.”
“We really dove into the production on this one,” Franz Stefanik explains, noting the freedom they had to experiment sonically while recording at their Hamilton HQ – dubbed the ‘Deadquarters’ – with Marco Bressette, a decorated engineer and producer, at the controls. “We spent more time going through different guitar, amp, and pedal set-ups and getting everything mic'd properly than we did actually tracking, and I think it shows.”
Dead Tired’s unrelenting musical onslaught is best defined by way of contrasts and contradictions, existing in the ether between opposing forces and foiling ideas.
“I think we’re really stepping into our own sound with this one,” states Stefanik. “When we first started, we didn’t really have any goals or ambitions other than playing music and having fun, but things are starting to feel more serious and everyone’s really excited about that. Our writing is evolving and we’re starting to wear our influences on our sleeves a bit more.”
Satan Will Follow You Home spans a more expansive sonic spectrum than anything we’ve heard from the quintet, comprised of Stefanik, fellow guitarist Marco Bressette, bassist Nick Ball, Pettit, and new drummer Theo McKibbon.
That’s not to say they’ve strayed from the chaotic and combustible energy of their earlier work; instead, they’ve distilled it, made it exponentially more potent, and used it as an anchor to go off and explore increasingly ambitious styles and sounds. Atop a solid foundation inspired by early Converge and Cave-In, Kyuss, and Dead Kennedys, we get everything from sickly saxophone licks to stacked vocal harmonies.
The band yearns to get back to bludgeoning fans with their blazing, hard-hitting live shows – something that Stefanik says weighed heavily on their minds while recording thanks to the global pandemic that forced them into a temporary holding pattern. “That felt like such a big defeat,” he adds, “so making this album became our distraction, and a great motivator to keep our creativity and lives going.”
Needless to say, they’re keen for their return to any stage that’ll have them, from major international festivals to the crammed clubs that first confirmed they were onto something special back in 2014.
“It feels so good to have new material, a new lineup, and the excitement that comes with being able to play shows again,” Stefanik says in closing. “We’re stoked to have relit that spark to the point that, really, this feels like an entirely new band.”
A group of well-seasoned scene veterans dropping a career-defining record, reinvigorated with the vivacity of a new band? Yet another example of Dead Tired thriving in a place between opposites, adhering to no set agenda or rules outside of their own.
Satan Will Follow You Home tracklisting:
"Predatory Loans"
"Show Me A Sign"
"SWFYH"
"Breakfast of Participants"
"Vast Lethality"
"Tyrants Palace"
"Creeping Dread"
"New World Pigs"
"Aging Out"
"Domestic"
Frontiers Music Srl has signed a new Danish hard rock band, Taboo, who will release their self-titled debut album via the label this fall.
Taboo features vocalist Christoffer Stjerne, who also fronts the band H.E.R.O., and guitarist Ken Hammer, who rock fans around the world will recognize as a founding member of the beloved hard rock institution Pretty Maids.
Based out of Copenhagen, Denmark, Taboo's songs are stuffed with classic heavy riffing and super melodic hooks with a dose of modernity. Today, the band has released their first single, "Flames". Stream it on your preferred streaming service, and listen below:
With their musical union, Taboo became the musical playground for two of Denmark's most experienced and powerful musicians. The powerhouse duo of Christoffer and Ken won’t let rock fans down when they release their self-titled debut album later this year, as the first taste of the album, "Flames" no doubt proves.
Taboo are currently booking live dates, which will be announced soon.
Lineup:
Christoffer Stjerne - Vocals, Various Instrumentation
Ken Hammer - Guitars, Various Instrumentation
July 18, 2021 marked the 40th anniversary of thrash metal pioneers ANTHRAX. The celebration began in May of last year and culminated on July 16-17 with a global livestream event shot at the Los Angeles soundstage/studio The Den. For two-plus hours, ANTHRAX performed an extensive set of hits and deep cuts pulled from their vast catalog. Today, ANTHRAX announces that the entire performance, plus never-before-seen rehearsal footage and guitarist Scott Ian's New York City "walking tour," pointing out the spots that played a role in ANTHRAX's formation and history, will be released in North America on July 15 on Blu-ray / CD / Digital (Megaforce). "Anthrax XL" will also have a European digital release on July 15 (Nuclear Blast),followed by a Blu-ray release later this year.
Also today, ANTHRAX serves up a taste of the "Anthrax XL: celebration livestream with "Aftershock", the Blu-ray and CD's first single/video, that can be viewed below.
"Forty years doesn't feel like 40 years," said drummer Charlie Benante. "Sometimes, I have to remind myself about how long this strange trip has been. I enjoy playing these songs, they're such a huge part of my life, and I know for a lot of our fans, they play a big part in theirs as well."
From the night of the livestream, bassist Frank Bello recalled, "For me, each song was like reading through a scrapbook of my life and the band's career. Specifically, 'Madhouse', one of my first recordings with the band, and then to where we are now with 'Blood Eagle Wings'. What a great ride it's been. I'm very grateful."
"Even though we were performing in a studio with just the crew there, we played that set like we were in front of 50,000 screaming fans," said vocalist Joey Belladonna. "I felt like we made a full-on connection with everyone watching from their homes or wherever, and that they connected with us. It was quite an intense experience."
Currently, ANTHRAX is about six months into its 41st year, and the band — Belladonna, Ian, Bello, Benante and guitarist Jon Donais — doesn't quite have their 40th-anniversary in the rear-view mirror. Said Ian, "We had planned to do a big 40th-anniversary world tour last year, but because of COVID, we couldn't. So we're doing our 40th anniversary this year, our 41st. We're starting in America in July, going out with BLACK LABEL SOCIETY and HATEBREED, and then we headline a U.K. and European tour this fall. We're all really looking forward to being out on the road, playing shows and some deep cuts to celebrate our 40th with our fans."
The track listing for the "Anthrax XL" Blu-ray / CD / digital is as follows:
01. Time/Fight Em 'Til You Can't
02. Madhouse
03. Caught In A Mosh
04. Metal Thrashing Mad
05. Got The Time
06. I Am The Law
07. Keep It In The Family
08. Lone Justice
09. The Devil You Know
10. Be All End All
11. Now It's Dark
12. Antisocial
13. In The End
14. Medusa
15. Evil Twin
16. Indians
17. Skeletons In The Closet
18. Blood Eagle Wings
19. Bring The Noise
20. A.I.R.
21. Among The Living
Formed by Ian and bassist Dan Lilker in Queens, New York on July 18, 1981, ANTHRAX was one of the first thrash metal bands to emerge from the East Coast and quickly became regarded as a leader in the genre alongside METALLICA, SLAYER and MEGADETH.
Active over the past five decades, ANTHRAX has released 11 studio albums, been awarded multiple gold and platinum certifications, received six Grammy nominations, toured the world since 1984 playing thousands of shows, including headlining Madison Square Garden and playing Yankee Stadium with the "Big Four".
ANTHRAX's latest album, 2016's "For All Kings", was called by some critics ANTHRAX's strongest effort to date. Its arrival followed a five-year period during which the group experienced a rebirth of sorts, beginning with ANTHRAX's inclusion on the "Big Four" tour, and continuing with the 2011 release of comeback LP "Worship Music".
In 2021, Neurosis guitarist/vocalist Steve Von Till performed his 2020 solo album, No Wilderness Deep Enough, in full along with several older acoustic cuts and spoken-word poetry for a special Roadburn Redux-exclusive performance dubbed A Remote Wilderness. In anticipation of Von Till’s upcoming summer 2022 tour, Revolver is premiering the entire concert film on their channel for the whole world to see, previewing today with the dynamically rich track, “The Old Straight Track”.
A Remote Wilderness was captured on stunning multi-cam video by filmmaker Bobby Cochran at the legendary Robert Lang Studios in Seattle, where Steve Von Till was joined by a talented cast of musicians including cellist Lori Goldston, who famously performed with Nirvana from 1993 to 1994.
Watch the full video for "The Old Straight Track" below:
Music by:
Steve Von Till - vocals, piano, guitar
Dave French - synthesizer, percussion, guitar
Lori Goldston - cello
David Lutz - synthesizer
Eric Padget - french horn
Olie Eshleman - pedal steel
- Recorded by Chris Rahm at Robert Lang Studios, Seattle, WA on April 1st, 2021.
- Mixed by SVT and Dave French
- Videography, lighting, and editing - Bobby Cochran
- Assisted by Steven Dangerfield
- Handwritten titles - Niela Von Till
- Title file prep - Orion Landau
Head here for tickets to Steve Von Till’s 2022 summer tour.
THE WEDDING BAND, the side project of METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo, along with Mark Osegueda (DEATH ANGEL),Jon Theodore (THE MARS VOLTA, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) and Doc Coyle (BAD WOLVES, GOD FORBID),performed last night (Friday, May 27) at Jam Cellars Ballroom at Margrit Mondavi Theatre in Napa, California. The show was part of the "BottleRock Afterdark" performances that are taking place in conjunction with this year's METALLICA co-headlined edition of the BottleRock Napa Valley music festival, which is being held May 27-29 at the Napa Valley Expo in Northern California.
Fan-filmed video of THE WEDDING BAND performing covers of classic songs from BLACK SABBATH, MISFITS, MOTÖRHEAD, THE CLASH, RAMONES, DEAD KENNEDYS and others in Napa can be seen below.
Back in 2019, Kirk told Cosmo Music about THE WEDDING BAND: "It's just really fun jamming with these guys. It's something different. For Rob and I, it's cool, because we get to indulge our love of funk and punk... I was listening to all sorts of crazy music in the '70s — a lot of funk, R&B — so I've always had a real appreciation of the music of that time. When I found out that Rob did, we started playing our favorite songs. Funk from the '70s is so unique, and it's almost a lost art because no one is writing songs like that anymore... We got together and started jamming out tunes, and it sounded amazingly good, and then we started to improvise, and it sounded amazingly good... It's primarily a way for Rob and I just to jam out. We love to jam; we love playing with people; we love to play funk. It's become a little bit of an outlet for us, but it's nothing really serious or anything like that. We're really open to anyone coming and playing with us. I even asked the other guys in [METALLICA] if they want to come by and jam. [We're] always open — this is not a closed-border sort of band situation. Anyone can come in and play, as long as they're good... It's so recreational, but musicians need recreational music as well. They need to play stuff that they don't really have to worry too much about, and that we don't have too much accountability over. It's just a light, cool, fun thing for us, and Rob and I need that, because a lot of times, we put so much into our performance. There's so much intensity, so much riding on having to execute this song and play the shit out of it. You've just got to put a lot of love and care into our band's music, and that's fine, and I love it – I'm super-passionate about it — but it's also fun to just go to Disneyland for a while and play some tunes that are just fun for you to play, inspired you, make you smile, make you sweat and make you go, 'Man, I needed that.' I think everyone needs something like that... It's just so fun. We're something that's not to be taken too seriously, because none of us want to take it that seriously."
In 2020, Hammett confirmed that he and his METALLICA bandmates have begun working on the follow-up to 2016's "Hardwired… To Self-Destruct" album while in quarantine. A year earlier, Hammett said that he had already accumulated "a lot" of "kick-ass, great" ideas for METALLICA's next LP.
The METALLICA axeman famously lost his iPhone containing hundreds of riffs in 2014. About six months later, he told "The Jasta Show" podcast that he "was crushed" when it happened, but still expressed hope that it "might turn up."
Hammett is not credited on any of the songs on "Hardwired…To Self-Destruct".
He previously said that losing his phone was a "devastating" experience.
Despite the setback, Hammett said that he was pleased with how "Hardwired...To Self-Destruct" turned out.
Original KISS drummer Peter Criss joined former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick and his solo band on stage Sunday night (May 29) at this year's Creatures Fest at Nashville's Sonesta Nashville Airport Hotel. Together they performed the song "Hooked On Rock 'N' Roll", which originally appeared on Criss's 1978 solo album. Fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below.
Kulick's group, which also features singer and guitarist Todd Kerns, bassist and singer Zach Throne and drummer Brent Fitz, performed mostly songs from Kulick's 1980s and 1990s KISS era.
Criss first left KISS in 1980. Since then he's worked with other bands and released solo albums. He teamed up with KISS again for a reunion tour in the 1990s and most recently in 2004. He was replaced by Eric Singer.
In addition to playing drums in KISS, Peter also provided lead vocals for a number the band's most popular and memorable songs, including "Beth", "Black Diamond" and "Hard Luck Woman".
Criss, who was known as "Catman," released his last solo CD, titled "One For All", in 2007. Peter produced the album himself for the first time, and was joined by guest musicians that included keyboardist Paul Shaffer and bassist Will Lee of "Late Night With David Letterman". The album featured a range of styles, from rock and jazz to blues and Broadway, and included covers of "What A Difference A Day Makes" and "Send In The Clowns".
Criss played what was being billed as his final full U.S. concert in June 2017 at the Cutting Room in New York City.
Bruce joined KISS in 1984 and accompanied the band on the "Animalize" tour and continued with them until the reunion tour. Bruce is heavily featured on "Kissology – Vol. 2" and "Vol. 3", the band's DVDs spanning their historic four-decade-plus career.
Megadeth guitarist Kiko Loureiro has shared a behind-the-scenes video from the recently wrapped Metal Tour Of The Year 2022 with Lamb Of God, Trivium and In Flames. Check out backstage footage from the second show of the tour in Tucson, AZ
Loureiro previously shared backstage footage from the first show of the tour in Las Vegas, NV.
Nighted, the new genre-bending black metal synthwave duo, have released their new single, the eponymous "Nighted". Check out the official video below.
The single is available on digital platforms found here.
Nighted are Ivo Henzi (vocals, guitars / ex-Eluveitie, Cellar Darling, Forest Of Fog) and Marc Petralito (synths, Appearance Of Nothing). One late and misty summer night, in the enforced lockdown of 2020, the two struck on the idea of mixing black metal with '70s-era synth, à la Blade Runner and Jean-Michel Jarre: and Nighted is the result.
"Nighted" is the third single from Nighted's forthcoming album Absence, released this coming autumn. In the words of the group, it 'is an ode to the night. A confession of love to all the wondrous, the awe and the deep abysses of the night.' It follows their previous singles "Acronyc" and "Aeons".
Absence was recorded, mixed and mastered by Anna Murphy (Cellar Darling, ex-Eluveitie) at Lucerne’s Sound Farm Studio, with drums performed by session drummer Dylan Watson (Kassogtha). Nighted are signed to the newly-formed heavy music label Klang Machine Records, co-founded by drummer and artist manager Merlin Sutter.
Swiss progressive death metallers Kassogtha have revealed their stunning new single "The Infinite". "The Infinite" is the third glimpse of new material from the quintet's forthcoming album rEvolve, due to be released in Autumn 2022.
Stream "The Infinite" here, and watch the music video below.
Of "The Infinite" lyrics, vocalist Stephany comments: “It is right here, next to you, and it's taking you on a trip to your deepest fears and angers. Will you choose to follow the path it's trying so hard to draw you to? Oh you will... for sure. 'The Infinite' drags us into a world of uncertainty and madness. Only one thing shines in the dark and gives a little hope: a presence, imperceptible, which inevitably draws us towards a path that could be fatal, unless it's the deliverance we've been waiting so long for..."
Guitarist and songwriter Mortimer elaborates: "This was the first song written in the rEvolve writing process. In fact, its first iteration was created when the band was working on their previous EP, The Call. 'The Infinite' is now one of the most brutal songs on the album. As the opening track, we wanted to let our audience immediately know what we are up to. Progressive death metal. The song grabs you by the throat with a no-fuss blast beat intro followed by chaos and intensity that barely stops until the end of the song."
Kassogtha are led by vocalist / lyricist Stephany, whose incredible command of growled and clean vocals help mark the band as future Swiss heavy music stars. A concept album, rEvolve tells the story of an endless self-destructive cycle of fear, anxiety, and jealousy. In a world that normalises negativity, we have forgotten how to be happy — and following a pandemic-enforced long, hard look at humanity and society, this is Stephany’s journey of dealing with these emotions. This album is a perfectly timed release valve for two years of isolation, anxiety and grief — a furious expression of frustration at missing the things we love that help us get through difficult times.
Kassogtha band place authenticity and sincerity above smoke and mirrors: a genuine metal band for true metal fans, that takes the genre further without abandoning its core ingredients. From Pink Floyd to Gojira via way of The Agonist and Arch Enemy, Kassogtha’s no-nonsense brand of groovy progressive death metal combines a variety of influences to create a steamrolling fusion of irresistible riffs, neck-breaking drums and a vocal range covering devastating growls and ethereal melodies.
On rEvolve, produced at Stockholm’s legendary Fascination Street Studios with David Castillo (Carcass, Opeth, Leprous), Linus Corneliusson (Ihsahn, Amorphis) and Tony Lindgren (Carcass, Opeth, Katatonia), Kassogtha showcase old school riffs and progressive inspiration, savage grooves and blast beats, creativity and speed, and pure, honest dedication to their craft.
rEvolve will be released on Klang Machine Records, the newly-formed heavy music label co-founded by Swiss metal wizard Merlin Sutter (Cellar Darling, ex-Eluveitie) in Autumn 2022.
Check out the previously released videos for "Before I Vanish" and "Drown"; both tracks are set to appear on rEvolve.