Month: April 2021

METALLICA’s James Hetfield will be the special guest at the Little Kids Rock virtual benefit event on April 14. Also scheduled to appear are Yo-Yo Ma, Carlos Santana, Cindy Blackman Santana, Warren Haynes, Jade Bird, Jon Secada, T-Boz of TLC, Brian Hardgroove, Kix Brooks of BROOKS AND DUNN, Todd Rundgren, Alice Merton, Suzi, DJ Skee, Craig Robinson, Jeff Mauro, Jack Black and others.

The event benefits Little Kids Rock, a non-profit that transforms kids’ lives by restoring, expanding and innovating music in our schools. Watch superstar artists perform and appear with school children from across the country. There will be a live auction and many other ways that you can support throughout the show.

Reserve your free tickets at this location.

Little Kids Rock transforms lives by restoring, expanding, and innovating music education in U.S. schools. Their network of thousands of K-12 teachers across 44 states lead a national movement that brings innovative and inclusive music education to students. Using genres including rock, pop, Latin, and rap, their program empowers teachers to build music programs as diverse as the kids they serve.

Little Kids Rock students see themselves reflected in their classes, which strengthens their connection to their school, their peers, and their community. Little Kids Rock also donates necessary instruments and curriculum, meeting a key need of many school music programs. More than 550,000 kids currently participate in Little Kids Rock programs nationwide. Since 2002, the organization has reached more than one million students with highly-inclusive and culturally relevant music education.

For more information, visit littlekidsrock.org.

SPECIAL GUEST ANNOUNCEMENT! ⭐ #JamesHetfield of @Metallica is joining us at the Little Kids Rock Benefit on April 14!
Thanks to our generous sponsors, General admissions tickets are FREE! Register now: https://t.co/m03B9dj0FH pic.twitter.com/03e4YmOMn8

— Little Kids Rock (@littlekidsrock) April 1, 2021

FEAR FACTORY will release its first new song in over five years on Friday, April 16. The track is expected to appear on the band’s upcoming album, due later in the year via Nuclear Blast Records.

Last September, singer Burton C. Bell issued a statement officially announcing his departure from FEAR FACTORY, saying that he “cannot align” himself with someone whom he does not trust or respect.

Bell’s exit from FEAR FACTORY came more than two weeks after guitarist Dino Cazares launched a GoFundMe campaign to assist him with the production costs associated with the release of FEAR FACTORY’s long-awaited new LP.

Bell later told Kerrang! magazine that his split with FEAR FACTORY was a long time coming. “It’s been on my mind for a while,” he said. “These lawsuits [over the rights to the FEAR FACTORY name] just drained me. The egos. The greed. Not just from bandmembers, but from the attorneys involved. I just lost my love for it.

“With FEAR FACTORY, it’s just constantly been, like, ‘What?!’ You can only take so much. I felt like 30 years was a good run. Those albums I’ve done with FEAR FACTORY will always be out there. I’ll always be part of that. I just felt like it was time to move forward.”

Pressed about whether there is any chance of a reconciliation with FEAR FACTORY down the line, Burton said: “I’m done. I haven’t spoken to Dino in three years. I haven’t spoken to Raymond [Herrera, drums] and Christian [Olde Wolbers, bass] in longer than that, and I have no intention to. I’m just moving forward with my life.”

In October, Dino issued a statement in which he said that the door for Burton to come back to FEAR FACTORY wouldn’t “stay open forever.” The guitarist also revealed that Burton “lost his legal rights” to the FEAR FACTORY name “after a long court battle” with Herrera and Olde Wolbers. “I had the opportunity to do something right, and I felt that obtaining the name in full was the right thing to do for the both of us, so after nearly four years we can continue as FEAR FACTORY, to make more records and to tour,” he said. “That is why it is sad to hear that he decided to quit and, in my opinion, for whatever issues he has it seems like it could’ve been worked out.”

In explaining his reasons for starting a fundraising campaign, Cazares said that all donations will go toward covering newly incurred production costs involved with the making of the new FEAR FACTORY LP, including re-recording the drums, guitars, bass and keyboards, as well as mixing and mastering by Andy Sneap. Burton’s original lead vocals, which were recorded in full in 2017, will remain on the new version of the album.

FEAR FACTORY’s fundraising campaign marked the first public activity from the band since it completed a 2016 U.S. headlining tour on which it performed its classic second album, “Demanufacture”, in its entirety.

Bell’s ASCENSION OF THE WATCHERS project released its second full-length album, “Apocrypha”, last October via Dissonance Productions.

In a new interview with Brazil’s Wikimetal, CHEAP TRICK singer Robin Zander was asked where he thinks his band stands in the history of rock and roll. He replied (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We stand up. [Laughs] We’re still here. I don’t know. This is what we’ve always done. We’re musicians and songwriters, and we enjoy what we do. And we’ve always made music for ourselves. We just hope that the audience likes it. And we’ll continue to do so as long as there’s still musical breath in our bodies.”

Zander also talked about CHEAP TRICK’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2016 after being eligible since 2002. Asked if the Rock Hall honor was and important moment in the band’s career, Robin said: “Yes, it was a big deal. But you’ve gotta remember, as a band, you kind of think about award shows and things like that as a secondary thing. The most important thing is the fans and making music. So after 25 years of being eligible, you sort of think, ‘Well, boy, we could be in the Hall Of Fame.’ And then five years goes by after that, and you’re not in. Ten years goes by, and you’re still not in. And you [think], ‘Screw ’em. They don’t know what they’re talking about anyway.’ Fifteen years goes by, and it just keeps going. And then, all of a sudden, you get the phone call, and all is forgiven.”

CHEAP TRICK will release its 20th studio album, “In Another World”, on April 9 via BMG.

The band’s current lineup includes three of its original members: Zander, guitarist Rick Nielsen and bassist Tom Petersson. Drummer Bun E. Carlos stopped touring with the band in 2010 and was replaced by Nielsen’s son Daxx.

Founded in 1974, CHEAP TRICK are an indisputable American institution, beloved around the globe for their instantly identifiable, hugely influential, brand of pop rock ‘n’ roll. The band are true pioneers with an unparalleled streak of certifiably classic tunes, from “He’s A Whore”, “California Man” and “Dream Police” to “Surrender”, “I Want You To Want Me” and the worldwide #1 hit single “The Flame”.

CHEAP TRICK’s nearly five-decade career has earned them more than 40 international gold and platinum certifications, myriad awards and industry honors, featured appearances on over 20 movie soundtracks, and total record sales well in excess of 20 million.

JOURNEY’s Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain have resolved their legal dispute with the band’s former members, drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory.

On March 3, 2020, Schon and Cain filed a lawsuit against Valory and Smith, who had been members of JOURNEY on and off since the band formed in 1973, claiming the two attempted a “coup” in order to gain control of the JOURNEY trademark. The suit, which sought more than $10 million in damages, accused Smith and Valory of holding an “improper” shareholder and board of directors meetings in February during which they ousted Cain and Schon from leadership posts at Nightmare Productions under the “incorrect” assumption that the company held the rights to the JOURNEY name. An answer filed by counsel defending Valory against the complaint’s allegations and the cross-complaint attempted to dispute and refute these allegations.

Earlier today, JOURNEY’s management, Q Prime, released the following statement: “The members of the band JOURNEY who were parties to a recent lawsuit (Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain, Steve Smith and Ross Valory) are pleased to announce that they have resolved their differences and reached an amicable settlement agreement. Neal Schon and Jonathan Cain acknowledge the valuable contributions that both Ross Valory and Steve Smith have made to the music and the legacy of JOURNEY. Ross Valory and Steve Smith wish their former bandmates well and much success in the future. JOURNEY looks forward to continuing to tour and make new music for their dedicated fans around the world.”

Valory and Smith have been replaced in JOURNEY by Randy Jackson and Narada Michael Walden, respectively.

Last fall, Schon told “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” about JOURNEY’s split with Valory and Smith: “The way things went down was really not that kosher. I mean, what should have happened, rather than them trying to take over at that point, was to call us up and say, ‘Hey, let’s sit down and talk about this.’ Instead it went a different way. And both myself and Jonathan didn’t appreciate it.”

The new JOURNEY lineup performed a socially distanced version of “Don’t Stop Believin'” for UNICEF USA’s virtual event “UNICEF We Won’t Stop”, which aired last May on MSNBC.

JOURNEY was supposed to launch a North American tour with THE PRETENDERS in May 2020, but canceled the trek amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the last four decades, JOURNEY has reigned as one of America’s most successful rock bands, producing ten platinum albums, eighteen Top 40 singles, and selling more than 75 million albums worldwide. JOURNEY formed in 1973, the same year it created Nightmare Productions Inc.

JOURNEY’s most recent LP, “Eclipse”, was released in May 2011. The Walmart exclusive debuted on the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 13 — eight spots lower than the band’s previous album, 2008’s “Revelation” — which also went on to hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Independent Albums chart.

Photo credit: Erik Kabik

Nugs.net, the leading music platform for live concert streams and recordings, has partnered with THE WHO, UMe and Mercury Studios, for the livestream premiere of their “Classic Albums” documentary “The Who Sell Out”.

THE WHO is one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century with over 100 million records sold worldwide, and the documentary explores its groundbreaking record in detail, including a deep dive into the original multi-track recordings, as well as brand-new, exclusive interviews with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and album producers.

Fans can tune in to the free livestream on Thursday, April 22 at 6 p.m. PT / 9 p.m. ET at nugs.net/thewho. The episode will be available to stream on demand via Nugs.net, the Nugs.net YouTube page and THE WHO YouTube page through Sunday, April 25 at 9 p.m. PT / 12 a.m. ET. Streaming is available worldwide with the exception of the U.K. and Ireland.

Initially released in December 1967 and described latterly by Rolling Stone as “THE WHO’s finest album,” “The Who Sell Out” reflected a remarkable year in popular culture. As well as being forever immortalized as the moment when the counterculture and the “Love Generation” became a global phenomenon and “pop” began metamorphosing into “rock.” The album was originally planned by Pete Townshend and the band’s managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp as a loose concept album including jingles and commercials linking the songs stylized as a pirate radio broadcast. This concept was born out of necessity as their label and management wanted a new album and Townshend felt that he didn’t have enough songs.

“The Who Sell Out” is a bold depiction of the period in which it was made, the tail end of the “swinging-’60s” meets pop-art mixed with psychedelia and straight-ahead pop. It’s a glorious blend of classic powerful WHO instrumentation, melodic harmonies, satirical lyrical imagery crystallized for what was only the group’s third album. The album’s ambition and scope is unrivalled by THE WHO, or any other act from that period. Within the bold concept, were a batch of fabulous and diverse songs. “I Can See for Miles”, a Top Ten hit at the time, is a WHO classic. “Rael”, a Townshend “mini-opera” with musical motifs that reappeared in “Tommy”, and the psychedelic blast of “Armenia City In The Sky” and “Relax” are among the very best material anyone wrote during the 1960s.

In keeping with the spirit of the times, the documentary is a visual representation of the album’s concept as a pirate radio broadcast, coupled with extremely rare archival footage, new interviews with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and a host of others, including John Entwistle and Keith Moon in archive. Additional narrative will be provided by filmed interviews with those who were there at the time, attesting to the importance of pirate radio and how pop music and advertising were beginning to feed off each other during the period the album was recorded. The episode will also cover why 1967 was a pivotal year in popular culture by examining the era’s art, music and social influences, and how “The Who Sell Out” encapsulated that time but still sounds as fresh and vital as it did upon its release over 50 years ago.

“The Who Sell Out” documentary was produced by Mercury Studios and directed by Bob Smeaton, the double Grammy Award-winning director with music documentary credits that include THE BEATLES, Elton John, THE WHO, PINK FLOYD, THE DOORS, QUEEN, NIRVANA, Mark Knopfler and the SPICE GIRLS.

To coincide with the “Classic Albums” episode, THE WHO will release a new super deluxe edition of “The Who Sell Out” on April 23 via UMe/Polydor, featuring 112 tracks spanning five CDs and two seven-inches, 47 of which are unreleased, including 14 unheard Pete Townshend demos, an 80-page, hard-back, full-color book, including rare period photos, memorabilia (nine posters and inserts), track-by-track annotation and new sleeve notes by Pete Townshend with comments from the likes of Pete Drummond (Radio London DJ), Richard Evans (designer) and Roy Flynn (the Speakeasy Club manager). The super deluxe package also includes nine posters and inserts, including replicas of 20″ x 30″ original Adrian George album poster, a gig poster from The City Hall, Newcastle, a Saville Theatre show eight-page program, a business card for the Bag o’ Nails club, Kingly Street, a WHO fan club photo of group, a flyer for Bath Pavilion concerts including THE WHO, a crack-back bumper sticker for Wonderful Radio London, Keith Moon’s Speakeasy Club membership card and a WHO fan club newsletter.

Corey Taylor (SLIPKNOT, STONE SOUR), Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM), Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), Dave Lombardo (SLAYER, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES) and Tina Guo have teamed up with composer Fil Eisler on the new track “Thunder Force” — lead single from the original soundtrack to the upcoming Netflix comedy-action film of the same name.

Due on April 9, the movie is written and directed by Ben Falcone (“The Boss”, “Tammy”) and stars Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Pom Klementieff, Melissa Leo and Tyrel Jackson Williams. The comedy is set in a world overrun with super-villains and follows two childhood friends who reunite to battle the Miscreants that threaten to destroy Chicago. Falcone and McCarthy also produced the project with Marc Platt (“La La Land”, “Bridge Of Spies”, “Drive”).

“I have had the privilege of working in the music industry for over 35 years,” says Lombardo. “There is something incredibly exhilarating about performing on stage, specifically the edge that comes with the off the rails style of music I play. Working with Fil Eisler on ‘Thunder Force’ somehow captured that same feeling. This score is a powerful musical engine. It was a pleasure to be a part of the team that helped this come to life.”

Composer Fil Eisler (“Empire”, “Revenge”, “How To Be Single”, “CHiPs”, “UnReal”, “The Titan”), who helmed the “Thunder Force” score, tweeted earlier in the month: “On Apr 9th, #netflix releases #ThunderForce I have the pleasure of not only scoring the movie but having two of my childhood heroes @Scott_Ian and @TheDaveLombardo play on the score.”

Here is the “Thunder Force” plot via Netflix’s official synopsis: “In a world terrorized by super-villains, one woman has developed the process to give superpowers to regular people. But when scientist Emily Stanton accidentally imbues her estranged best-friend with incredible abilities, the two women must become the first superhero team. Now, it is up to Thunder Force to battle the super-powered Miscreants and save Chicago from the clutches of The King.”

April 9th!! Save the date comedy loving drumheads. ThunderForce is coming for you! Loving this experience and the brilliant score. Thank you @fileisler. It’s a pleasure working with you, and of course jammin’ with my @mrbungle band mate @scottian. https://t.co/djiQXZsJt4
— Dave Lombardo (@TheDaveLombardo) March 10, 2021

Swedish melodic death metal pioneers AT THE GATES have completed recording their new studio album, “The Nightmare Of Being”, for a July 2 release via Century Media Records.

While main parts for “The Nightmare Of Being” were recorded in several different Swedish studios — drums at Studio Gröndal with Jens Bogren, guitars and bass with Andy La Rocque at Sonic Train Studio and vocals at Welfare Sounds with Per Stålberg — the LP was mixed and mastered at Fascination Street Studios (AMON AMARTH, OPETH, KREATOR) by Jens Bogren, who has previously worked with AT THE GATES on the “At War With Reality” comeback album in 2014. The album’s visual concept was developed by artist Eva Nahon.

AT THE GATES vocalist Tomas Lindberg checked in with the following comment about the album’s concept: “The overall theme deals with the topic of pessimism, and I have been diving deep down in pessimistic philosophers. Trying to understand this way of looking at the world. It is not a negative album, more a gateway into new ideas for me personally, trying out different perspectives. You could call the album an introduction to pessimism as a concept, I guess. It is a very dark album, but not negative…”

And musically, while “The Nightmare Of Being” unveils a newly liberated and adventurous AT THE GATES via some of the bravest and most mesmerizing material they have ever written, Lindberg adds: “It still sounds like AT THE GATES, 100 percent. It is just more of everything…”

“The Nightmare Of Being” track listing:

01. Spectre of Extinction
02. The Paradox
03. The Nightmare of Being
04. Garden of Cyrus
05. Touched by the White Hands of Death
06. The Fall into Time
07. Cult of Salvation
08. The Abstract Enthroned
09. Cosmic Pessimism
10. Eternal Winter of Reason

Speaking to MessedUp Magazine, Lindberg stated about the upcoming effort: “We were very excited about [2014’s] ‘At War With Reality’ already before it was released, because it represented our comeback. No one was as excited about it as us, but some time later, I thought it was too slick, too well-produced. ‘To Drink From the Night Itself’ was a response to that and we wanted it to be dirty and gritty and have loads of classic death metal sounds on it, like a lot of reverb on the vocals and that stuff. It was a record for old-school fans. The upcoming album is somewhere in between, something that continues on the concept we started on the two previous albums where we incorporated much more of our proggy, krauty and avant-gardist influences. Just to give you the picture of how it sounds; one song goes by the nickname ‘the Goblin song,’ another we call ‘the Neu song.’ But I promise you we don’t take it too far — people wouldn’t listen to it if we did. [Laughs] When we were in the studio, we told Jens Bogren [producer] to keep the gritty sound and the attack from the last record and put the overall sound in between the comeback records. And it sounds awesome.

“When we did the Roadburn festival two years ago we did a special set with guest vocalists and string instruments and that stuff on stage and played songs we never played live before. All that was very inspiring because we realized we can do it today, the things we thought we could do as teenagers when we wanted to be the KING CRIMSON of death metal [laughs], but we weren’t good enough. After the Roadburn gig, we talked about incorporating more of those elements on record.

“Let’s say we’re super excited about how people will receive the record because there’s stuff on the album never heard on an AT THE GATES record before — a lot of weird things. [Laughs] For old fans, there’s at least five or six classic AT THE GATES songs on it, but it’s a quite diverse album.

“AT THE GATES have been around for such a long time by now that we don’t need to release records to please someone else — we want to do things we like ourselves. It’s still death metal, but it has evolved. We just want it to sell enough to get money to record the next album. [Laughs] ”

AT THE GATES guitarist Jonas Stålhammar recently told Italy’s Poisoned Rock about the music he and his bandmates have written for the upcoming effort: “It’s kind of progressing even more from the last album. It’s gonna be different than that one too, but still you know it’s AT THE GATES. It’s evolving even more. All of us are kind of on the same page with why should we do the same record over and over again.”

“To Drink From The Night Itself” was produced with Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, THE HAUNTED, DIMMU BORGIR) at Parlour Studios in the U.K. The follow-up 2014’s “At War With Reality” featured conceptual artwork created by Costin Chioreanu of Twilight13Media, who also worked with AT THE GATES on the band’s previous disc.

“To Drink From The Night Itself” was the first AT THE GATES album written and recorded without lead guitarist/primary songwriter Anders Björler, who departed in 2017. He has since been replaced by Stålhammar.

Further details about “The Nightmare Of Being” and its various formats will be revealed on April 30, with the start of the album’s pre-order campaign.

AT THE GATES is:

Adrian Erlandsson – Drums
Jonas Björler – Bass
Tomas Lindberg – Vocals
Jonas Stålhammar – Guitar
Martin Larsson – Guitar

Above photo by Ester Segarra

In a recent interview with Uncle Steve’s Iron Maiden Zone, former IRON MAIDEN singer Blaze Bayley was asked if he would ever consider touring with the band again if he was approached about it. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, the first is they have to ask. But it’s a thing that I think would be really fun for the fans. I mean, Bruce [Dickinson, MAIDEN’s current singer] is just a heroic singer to me. I’ve always loved his voice. He’s a fantastic singer. He’s brilliant. He’s a fantastic performer. He is the top in the world at what he does. So it’s incredible.

“I think it would be really for fans if you had Paul [Di’Anno, former MAIDEN singer], Blaze and Bruce [all performing with MAIDEN in one night],” he continued. “I think it would be fun. Not really serious, but we all sing a couple of key songs from [each] era, and then Bruce closes the show. I just think it would be fun. But I think you’d need a lot of security because there’d be some people who still hate me — they still hate me — and they’re gonna be going, ‘All right, rubbish compared to Bruce.’ And then there are people that love me, and they’re gonna be going, ‘Shut up!’ So there might be some fights breaking out; you just don’t know. But I think it would be funny, man. I can imagine the conversations in the bar that the fans would have: ‘Who do you think is better?’

“I think it would be fun, but I think IRON MAIDEN have got a lot of great music [left in them],” Blaze added. “I spoke to Steve [Harris, MAIDEN founder and leader] last month. I think they’ve got a lot of great music. Steve’s as fired up as he ever has been. So there’s a lot of great music for them to do.

“I think somewhere in the future, it would be a really fun idea. I don’t think it will happen — I don’t think it will ever happen — but I think it would be fun if it did.”

The 57-year-old Bayley, who was born in Birmingham, was the original frontman in WOLFSBANE, but left to join MAIDEN, with whom he recorded two studio albums — 1995’s “The X Factor” 1998’s and “Virtual XI” — before Dickinson returned to the group. The MAIDEN albums he appeared on sold considerably less than the band’s prior releases and were their lowest-charting titles in the group’s home country since 1981’s “Killers”.

Since leaving IRON MAIDEN in 1999, Bayley has released a number of albums, including several under the moniker BLAZE and more than a handful under his own name. He also appeared on 2012’s “Wolfsbane Saves The World”, the first album of new material by WOLFSBANE since the group’s self-titled 1994 effort.

Blaze will release a new studio album, “War Within Me”, on April 9. All songs were written and produced by Blaze and guitarist Christopher Appleton.

Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., well known in rock and metal circles for his work as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist and as leader of his own band FIREWIND, has released the official music video for his new solo single, “Exosphere”. The track features Dennis Ward on bass and Jan-Vincent Velazco on drums. The artwork for the single was created by Gustavo Sazes, with whom Gus has worked since 2007.

Last November, Gus confirmed that he had begun work on a new solo album which he said looked like it would be “all instrumental.”

Gus previously discussed a possible new solo LP during an April 2020 interview with U.K.’s “NI Rocks” radio show. At the time, he said: “I’m thinking of making, actually, a full-on instrumental record next. I’ve done a lot of collaborations already and I’ve tried out the trio thing and I think I’m kind of ready now for that guitar instrumental record that more or less everybody wanted me to do for a number of years and I always said no. [Laughs] I needed to really get a lot of these things out of my system first and try out all these things, and I think I’m ready to try that one out now. So I don’t know how long it’s gonna take me and when it’s gonna come out. A lot will depend on FIREWIND as well and what happens with the band and how much we can tour and how the album is received. But, yeah, I’m slowly compiling ideas for possible instrumentals and an instrumental record. I think it will be a good time to let my guitar be the voice.”

In September 2019, Gus issued a digital-only solo EP, “Live In Budapest – Part 1”, consisting of four tracks recorded on the guitarist’s headline European tour in support of his latest album release, “Fearless”. The world tour saw Gus and his band share stages around the world with legendary guitarists like Richie Kotzen, Vinnie Moore followed by his own headline dates and a massive tour as special guest of Los Angeles rockers STEEL PANTHER.

Gus’s most recent solo band featured Dennis Ward (PINK CREAM 69, UNISONIC) on bass and vocals and longtime drummer Johan Nunez (FIREWIND, ex-KAMELOT).

“Fearless” was released in April 2018 via AFM Records. The follow-up to 2015’s “Brand New Revolution” marked Gus’s first release since exiting Osbourne’s band in 2017.

On “Fearless”, Gus joined forces with Ward and drummer Will Hunt (EVANESCENCE).

FIREWIND’s ninth, self-titled studio album was made available last May.

The band recently parted ways with guitarist/keyboardist Bob Katsionis and singer Henning Basse.

FIREWIND’s new vocalist is Herbie Langhans, who has previously played with AVANTASIA and SINBREED.