Month: August 2021

In a new interview with Rock Show Critique, former GREAT WHITE singer Jack Russell spoke about how most hard rock and heavy metal artists get the bulk of their revenue from live performances instead of album sales. “Everything is backwards,” he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “There is no money in record sales, at least not for artists of our ilk. Touring has become the way you earn a living. It’s a whole different animal. A lot of bands, unfortunately, can’t tour. They don’t have a following, or they have such a small following [that] they can’t really make any money at it. Or make a little bit of money and just squeak by, having day jobs and whatnot. So I consider myself very blessed that I’m still able to do what I do at my age.”

Russell also talked about what playing shows has been like during the coronavirus pandemic. “I’m not really scared,” he said. “I guess I probably should be. But I’m cautious and I take precautions. But I’m really not scared so much. I think if you take care of yourself and you watch what you’re doing and you have your eyes open and take the steps you need to take, I think you can be pretty safe.”

In a separate chat with Robby Lochner, Russell — who exited GREAT WHITE in December 2011 after he was unable to tour with the group due a series of injuries, including a perforated bowel and a shattered pelvis — said that he will continue to perform live despite the fact that he is not as physically fit as he once was.

“I’ve had health scares and health problems for quite a few years, and I’m not letting it take me down,” he said. “I still go out and do my shows and do what I have to do and still enjoy life. I’m not gonna let my health issues set me back or keep me off stage and keep me away from the people I love… My family and friends, my band… I mean, I consider them all my family.”

When Russell split with GREAT WHITE a decade ago, he largely blamed his injuries on his alcohol and painkiller addictions as well as the prednisone drug he was prescribed.

Russell sued his onetime bandmates in 2012 over their continued use of the GREAT WHITE name after Jack had taken a leave of absence from the band for medical reasons. A short time later, Russell was countersued by guitarist Mark Kendall, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Michael Lardie and drummer Audie Desbrow, claiming the vocalist’s self-destructive behavior was damaging the GREAT WHITE name (they also alleged he was charging promoters less for his own touring version of GREAT WHITE). The parties settled in July 2013 without going to trial, with Russell now performing as JACK RUSSELL’S GREAT WHITE while the others are continuing as GREAT WHITE.

More than three years ago, GREAT WHITE announced the addition of new singer Mitch Malloy to the group’s ranks. He replaced Terry Ilous, who was fired from the band in July 2018.

Russell, who celebrated the fifth anniversary of his getting sober in September 2020, had been living on a 45-foot boat in Redondo Beach, California for nearly a decade before recently moving to Colorado with his wife.

Founding BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward has shared a new original poem called “Creation Has Spirit”. Check it out below.

Ward has released a number of poems in recent months, some inspired by the coronavirus pandemic and others celebrating the fall–winter holiday season, including Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Bill was on board for the SABBATH reunion when it was first announced more than nine years ago, but backed out soon after. The drummer later claimed that he sat out the recording and touring sessions because of unfair contractual terms, although the members of SABBATH have hinted in other interviews that he wasn’t physically up to the task.

All four original members of SABBATH were present when the band announced its reunion in late 2011. But Ward split from the group in 2012, citing an “unsignable” contract, and singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler carried on with their Rick Rubin–produced “13” LP and extensive international touring without him.

Ozzy told The Pulse Of Radio during SABBATH’s last tour that Ward was not in shape to participate. “Bill Ward has got the most physically demanding job of the lot of us, ’cause he’s the timekeeper,” he said. “I don’t think personally he had the chops to pull it off, you know. The saddest thing is that he needed to own up to that, and we could have worked around it, whether we had a drummer on the side with him or something.”

It was rumored that SABBATH wanted to bring a second drummer on the road to share duties with Ward, something that Iommi confirmed in 2017 during a question-and-answer session about SABBATH’s “Ten Year War” box set.

In 2015, Ward released his first solo album in 18 years. Titled “Accountable Beasts”, the record can be purchased on iTunes.

In November 2017, Ward’s band DAY OF ERRORS released its first two songs, “Day Of Errors” and “Blaspheming At Creation”, via iTunes, Spotify, Amazon MP3 and Google Play. Two more tracks, “Dark” and “Ghost Train”, followed in 2019.

This past March, Ward revealed that he was working on an autobiography.

#creationhasspirit pic.twitter.com/0ny9EAaVk0
— Bill Ward (@billwarddrums) August 26, 2021

SLIPKNOT’s Corey Taylor has been testing negative for COVID-19 for the past two days after being infected with the novel coronavirus last week.

The 47-year-old SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR singer, who is fully vaccinated, was forced to call off his appearance at a Michigan pop culture convention this past weekend after testing positive for the coronavirus. Taylor first shared the news in a video posted Friday on the Facebook page for Astronomicon, the event where he was scheduled to appear Saturday and Sunday.

Earlier today (Thursday, August 26), Corey’s wife Alicia Taylor, who is a professional dancer and a member of the all-girl dance group CHERRY BOMBS, took to her Twitter to write: “Corey has been testing negative for two days. Had he not been vaxxed, this would have lasted much longer and been exponentially worse. I know this won’t change all minds, but if you’re on the fence- do it.

“Now it’s time to snag my man and drive home! I have missed him so much!”

Three days ago, Corey offered an update on his condition in a video shared on social media. At the time, he said he was still positive, but no longer grappling with COVID symptoms like aches and a high fever. “It shouldn’t be too much longer before I test negative, so that’s great,” Taylor said.” Like his wife, he credited the COVID-19 vaccine with helping him fight the virus, and encouraged people to get it if they haven’t. “I also want to say, because I was vaccinated, I truly believe that is what helped me get over the brink,” he said. “This is the worst I’ve ever been sick in my life. Had I not been vaccinated, I shudder to think how bad it would’ve been. But because I had that extra little bit of protection, it definitely helped me get through it. So go, go, go. If you’re still on the fence, I’m telling you right now, it’s the best thing you can do for yourself.”

Taylor completed the latest leg of his solo tour in support of his 2020 album “CMFT” on August 19 in Denver.

Corey has been testing negative for two days. Had he not been vaxxed, this would have lasted much longer and been exponentially worse. I know this won’t change all minds, but if you’re on the fence- do it.
Now it’s time to snag my man and drive home! I have missed him so much!

— uh-lee-see-yuh Taylor (@AliciaETaylor) August 26, 2021

Check out the new EP and video from Richmond hardcore heroes, Under Attack!
The post EP and Video Premiere: Getting to the Point with Hardcore Supergroup Under Attack appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Gene Simmons celebrated his 72nd birthday last night (Wednesday, August 25) during KISS’s concert at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio as part of the group’s “End Of The Road” world tour.

Video footage of the Toledo crowd, as well as Gene’s KISS bandmates, singing happy birthday to him can be seen below.

KISS frontman Paul Stanley also wished Gene a happy birthday on Twitter. Paul shared an early photo of the pair, and he wrote in an accompanying message: “HAPPY BIRTHDAY GENE! We started as partners but all the years made us brothers. You’re a good man and a GREAT Demon! In it to the end. Paul”.

Earlier this year, Stanley spoke to the St. Louis, Missouri radio station KSHE 95 about his continued partnership with Simmons — this despite their seeming like extremely different types of people. He said: “He’s my brother. His family is my family. I think of Shannon, his wife, as my sister-in-law. We’ve never been closer than we are now. We’ve come so far and done so many great things for each other, it would be ungrateful if we were anything less. We’re there to cheer each other on and text each other. We’re more than good.”

In July 2020, Stanley admitted to “Live From Nerdville With Joe Bonamassa” that he “didn’t particularly like” Simmons the first time they met. “But there was pragmatism involved,” he said. “You have to prioritize and figure what’s most important to you to reach your goal. And I knew that Gene and I were much stronger together than me alone. I’m not really sure that he knew that, but that became irrelevant. It was, ‘How do I get where I wanna go? How do I achieve what I want?’ And Gene was essential to it. And here we are 50-plus years later. It’s astounding. We’ve created something that seems like it will outlast us.”

In 2019, Stanley told Dean Delray’s “Let There Be Talk” podcast his relationship with Gene wasn’t affected by the release of Stanley’s 2014 memoir, “Face The Music: A Life Exposed”.

“Gene’s always been very accepting,” Paul said. “And we’ve only gotten closer and closer over time, which is just terrific. I said things in the book that I felt were true, and I would stand by what I said. But it doesn’t negate that in the scheme of things, he’s been a terrific partner, he’s a brother, and he’s family. Certainly there were things that I spoke about in the book that aren’t true anymore, but they were, to me, at some point. And that book was really my overview of my life. And I really didn’t say anything to hurt anyone, and I didn’t wanna throw anybody under the bus. There were a few people who walked under the bus — I didn’t have to throw ’em. I think Gene has always respected that I have my own perspective. And, again, I couldn’t be closer to him than I am now. Totally. I speak to him often.

“It would be crazy and sad to go through what we’ve done together and what we’ve accomplished and have ill will or animosity,” he continued. “If anything, the two of us look at each other and go, ‘Wow!’ In those moments of candor, or when we’re just talking to each other, or texting each other, there are those texts where it’s, like, ‘Wow! Look what we’ve done.’ So, yeah, anybody who thinks otherwise is sadly mistaken. His family is my family. Shannon, I’ve known Shannon probably 35-plus years. [Gene’s kids] Nick and Sophie, I feel like their uncle.

“Look, when [my son] Evan was born, the first person in the room to see him was Gene,” Paul added. “Even when things have been tough, or there’s been tensions in the past — and not in the near past — we always were family. When we had our big earthquake in the ’90s, basically I wasn’t talking to Gene at the time, and as soon as the ground stopped shaking, I called him. I said, ‘Are you okay?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’ And then we kept not talking to each other. But the most important thing was making sure he was okay.

“I’m very, very lucky to have him. And I don’t necessarily agree with everything he does. But does anybody?”

In “Face The Music: A Life Exposed”, Stanley insisted that his relationship with Simmons has slowly improved over time. But Paul also wrote: “[Gene] chose to ignore his underlying issues and instead committed himself to creating an external façade and persona that, unfortunately, he felt required to knock down anyone who threatened his singularity in the spotlight.” He also dismissed the notion that Simmons is some kind of financial genius. “Gene’s most successful venture in business was promoting the perception that he was a savvy businessman,” Paul wrote.

A few years back, Paul admitted that he “read a little bit of” Gene Simmons’s book when it first came out but that he had a different recollection of some of their shared history. While reading Gene’s book, Stanley felt, “Gee, I thought I did that. I thought that was me. You thought you were me,” he said.

KISS’s farewell trek was launched in January 2019 and was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but is now expected to last well into 2022.

KISS’s current lineup consists of original members Stanley and Simmons, alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GENE! We started as partners but all the years made us brothers. You’re a good man and a GREAT Demon! In it to the end. Paul pic.twitter.com/3t0ixioiSD
— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) August 25, 2021

THEORY OF A DEADMAN (a.k.a. THEORY) has canceled all of its September 2021 dates due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier today, the band issued the following statement: “It is with heavy hearts that we announce we will not be appearing with 3 DOORS DOWN this coming weekend, and that we will be canceling all of our September tour dates (with the exception of Mobile & Orlando, which will move to November – please check theoryofficial.com for new dates).

“We have decided that with the current surge in COVID cases, made worse by delta variant breakthrough cases, this is the right thing to do to ensure the safety of our fans and crew members. This wasn’t an easy choice for us, but we feel it is the right one.

“Ticket holders can obtain refunds at their point of purchase. (Applies to headline dates only).

“We look forward to seeing you when we head out in October with 10 YEARS. Please stay safe and healthy and we’ll see you soon!”

Several hard rock and heavy metal artists have canceled shows or whole tours as the concert industry is rethinking its approach to live shows while the delta variant of the coronavirus is spreading nationwide.

A number of venues around the country have already instituted policies requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to attend shows.

THEORY OF A DEADMAN’s latest studio album, “Say Nothing”, came out last year via Atlantic Records. The LP debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Alternative Albums chart and No. 3 on the Rock Albums chart. It was produced by Martin Terefe (Jason Mraz, Yungblud).

THEORY OF A DEADMAN drummer Joe Dandeneau recently told The Young Turks about the prospect of returning to playing live shows after an extended break due to the coronavirus crisis: “[I’m] super pumped, man. This has been a year and a half of sitting at home. There’s nothing to do. This is what we do — we tour. You get bored if you’re not working. It was nice for a little bit to get a break, sure, ’cause we were going hard. But we want to work, we want to go play. You’ve gotta remember, playing shows is like a form of therapy. When you connect with fans and you see everybody singing along, you’re in the moment. I’m not a drug user, but I would assume that there’s no drug on the planet that can give you this wicked high than being on stage. I miss that. It becomes a part of you that you want to just be with the fans and play music. This is why we do it. This is why I’ve been a drummer my whole life. I just love doing this, and so do the rest of the guys. And I haven’t seen them — we all live in different cities. It’s been a year and a half since I’ve seen the boys. And all our crew — our crew are spaced across the states, some of them from Canada, I haven’t seen any of these guys. It’s a whole world of getting back on tour that’s gonna be great therapy for all of us.”

We hope to see you soon. Until then, stay safe. ? pic.twitter.com/78WWAbsZ1J
— THEORY (@TheoryMusic) August 26, 2021

ANTHRAX has been celebrating its 40th anniversary since the festivities kicked off in late April. But even with the actual Big 4-0 having taken place on July 18, the band is not quite done saluting that milestone.

Today, the band announces the release of its 40th-anniversary high-end spirit, “Anthrax XL” (Roman numerals for 40), a smooth Solera-aged, single-barrel bourbon finished for 40 days in a 20-year old Oloroso Sherry cask, providing the spirits with balanced flavors and layers of complexity. Only one barrel of “Anthrax XL” has been produced, yielding 400 hand-numbered bottles at a cask strength of 115 proof. Each bottle features the bandmembers’ signatures, and is encased in a black drawstring velvet gift bag emblazoned with the Anthrax XL logo, with a suggested retail price of $155. Additionally, 40 limited-edition numbered bottles will be available. Priced at $350, each limited-edition bottle is also housed in a black drawstring velvet gift bag, imprinted with the Anthrax XL logo, then packed in a customized box encased in a SilverFoil card stock wrap-around. Each limited-edition item comes with a Golden Ticket, printed and debossed on gold foil-coated-card stock. The Golden Ticket awards the purchaser and a guest admission to an ANTHRAX headline concert in the purchaser’s area and includes a special in-person meet-and-greet with the band to take place during ANTHRAX’s 2022 U.S. tour.

For all details pertaining to “Anthrax XL,” go to www.anthrax.com; to purchase a bottle of “Anthrax XL,” go to www.120west58wine.com. Customers can expect a turn-around time of about 10 days.

In July, guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Frank Bello traveled up to the Hillrock Estate Distillery for a series of tastings to find that perfect elixir that would be “Anthrax XL” worthy.

“I had a great time up at Hillrock,” said Bello of the experience. “Everything there is homegrown, and all done by hand. Jeffrey, Cathy, Alex, and everyone who works there are all really nice people who care so much about what they do and how they do it. I’m very, very happy with our ‘Anthrax XL’ whiskey. It’s smooth, has a great aftertaste, and creates a great vibe. Right after my first taste, I wanted more.”

“I sampled eight different whiskeys from Hillrock’s rickhouse when I was there to pick one for our 40th-anniversary bottle,” said Ian. “It’s a difficult task in that they’re all so great, thieved from the barrel and into my glass. Every time I’ve had to choose a whiskey, I wait for the juice to tell me that, ‘it’s the one.’ This barrel spoke up loud and clear. On the nose, there is an explosion of caramel, toffee, and butterscotch with hints of dried cherries and fresh herbs. The palette has a rich texture of bright red fruits, baking spices, and toasted almonds. I’m drooling just reading that back. Get yourself a bottle, you deserve it!”

“Anthrax XL” is the band’s most recent collaboration with the multi-award-winning Hillrock Estate Distillery, located in the luxuriant Hudson Valley Highlands in New York State. Built from the ground up by husband and wife Jeffrey Baker and Cathy Franklin and the legendary late master distiller Dave Pickerell, ANTHRAX continues to return due to the high level of care and attention that the Hillrock trio puts into what they do.

According to Franklin, Baker and Alex Eckstein, owners of Hillrock Estate Distillery, “This ‘Anthrax XL’ Anniversary cask is the band’s fourth Hillrock Solera Aged Bourbon selection. Over that time, we have become very close with Scott and have enjoyed getting to know all of the other bandmembers, either up here with us in person or virtually. We hope to have Scott and Frank, as well as Charlie, Joey and Jon all up here together soon to taste, create and finish more beautiful craft whiskey together for many more years.”

Photo credit: Omar Mendez

Despite being Brazil’s biggest-ever heavy music export, when SEPULTURA lost its original frontman and founder Max Cavalera in 1996, and Max’s brother and drummer Igor Cavalera in 2006, many thought the band would not recover from their departures. However, in Cleveland, Ohio punk and hardcore scene veteran Derrick Green, SEPULTURA found a formidable, towering force that would lead the band with power and conviction through this new era of their career.

“Sepulnation: The Studio Albums 1998-2009”, released through BMG on October 22, celebrates the bands seconds phase, and this five-album boxset (across eight slabs of vinyl or five CDs) contains the albums “Against”, “Nation”, “Roorback”, “Dante XXI” and “A-Lex”, all of which are half speed cut, remastered and back on 180-gram vinyl for the first time in a decade and also as a collector’s CD box. In addition, the “Roorback” album features the rare “Revolusongs” EP, which is available for the first time digitally and saw the band celebrate their influences with covers of bands as musically broad as DEVO, EXODUS, U2 and MASSIVE ATTACK.

Any fans who feared that this new lineup of SEPULTURA would see the band taming its intense and heavy approach were not left disappointed when “Against” came out of the traps in 1998. With the powerhouse that is Igor Cavalera still on drums (he remained for four of the five albums), Andreas Kisser’s grinding guitars and bassist Paulo Jr.’s heavy bottom end powered behind Derrick Green’s guttural roar and SEPULTURA sounded heavier and more forceful than ever. This period would see the band continue to push their sound forward and challenge new sounds and styles, but they never lost sight of what was the core of the band. The righteous, rebellious nature remained with the 1998 album “Nation” calling for “one nation, Sepulnation,” — a rallying cry that stayed with the band throughout their long and challenging career.

“Sepulnation: The Studio Albums 1998-2009” brings the focus back on a period of the band that may have been missed by early supporters and shows that the fire continued to burn bright throughout.

“It’s an honor and privilege to be a part of SEPULTURA’s history,” states Green.

“I’m proud of all the work we have done together and it only makes sense to have this box set format released for the fans to have the complete history of SEPULTURA. Long live the Sepulnation!”

Pre-order “Sepulnation: The Studio Albums 1998-2009” here.

During the latest installment of his Zetro’s Toxic Vault YouTube stream, EXODUS frontman Steve “Zetro” Souza discussed the band’s upcoming album, “Persona Non Grata”, which will be released on November 19 via Nuclear Blast Records. The disc’s first single, “The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)”, was made available earlier in the month.

“Lyrically, [‘The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)’ is] ‘kick in your face and rape and murder your wife,'” he said. “Musically, it’s from that era. And it’s the fastest EXODUS song ever. It’s only three minutes — one verse, two choruses, lead section and out.

“I’m gonna be honest with you, guys. You’ve heard one song now. And I’m finally gonna get to say this. I’m gonna compare the records. And if I was to compare them, I would compare them to a cross between [2004’s] ‘Tempo Of The Damned’ and [2010’s] ‘Exhibit B[:The Human Condition]’,” he continued.

“Personally, ‘The Beatings’ is not my favorite song. I love it — don’t get me wrong; I love every song on the album — but when you finally get to hear ‘Prescribing Horror’ or ‘Lunatic-Liar-Lord’, those are my favorite songs. My performances and just the musical compositions that [guitarist] Gary Holt made on this album. And [guitarist] Lee Altus wrote the song ‘Slipping Into Madness’, and I wrote the lyrics for that song. That was the only thing that Gary didn’t have anything in on, out of all 12 songs. ‘Cosa Del Pantano’ is kind of an acoustic thing, like we did in the old days.”

Zetro went on to say that all EXODUS fans should be “very excited” for “Persona Non Grata”, “because there are no fillers on it. It’s full of hills and valleys and every song has its own personality, I guess is a good fucking word to use,” he said. “The brutality is still here. The brutality is still right at my doorstep. To me, the lyrical content on this record is very violent, very vicious. There’s choruses, there’s singing parts… It’s not a nice record. It’s not nice. It’s not nice lyrically, it’s not nice musically. It’s very not nice; it’s just not nice. You know, bands get older and they do some good [stuff], and everyone’s just, like, ‘Yeah, that’s cool,’ but you can see their age is wearing on them. I don’t think that’s the case right here at all. I think that this album is very brutal, it’s very in your face. The compositions, like I’ve been saying over and over again — it’s Gary Holt’s opus. And I know that you all feel ‘Bonded By Blood’ is, and it is, because it’s the greatest thrash record ever recorded and written. But 36 years later, 37 years later, this thing has got wings and wheels, my friends, and I cannot wait to get out on the road and play it for all of you guys.”

The official music video for “The Beatings Will Continue (Until Morale Improves)” was written and directed by BJ McDonnell and produced by James A Rota.

“Persona Non Grata” is the follow-up to 2014’s “Blood In Blood Out”, which was the San Francisco Bay Area thrashers’ first release since the departure of the group’s lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Souza, who previously fronted EXODUS from 1986 to 1993 and from 2002 to 2004.

“Persona Non Grata” was recorded at a studio in Lake Almanor, California and was engineered by Steve Lagudi and EXODUS. It was produced by EXODUS and was mixed by Andy Sneap. For the third time in the band’s history, they returned to Swedish artist Pär Olofsson to create the album artwork.

Last month, EXODUS drummer Tom Hunting underwent a successful total gastrectomy in his battle with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the stomach. EXODUS has since tapped John Tempesta to play drums for the band at two festivals — at last weekend’s Psycho Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada and at next month’s Full Terror Assault in Cave In Rock, Illinois — while Hunting is recovering from surgery. Tempesta was a member of EXODUS from 1989 until 1993 and played on the band’s albums “Impact Is Imminent” (1990) and “Force Of Habit” (1992).

When Hunting announced his absence from Psycho Las Vegas and Full Terror Assault, he said in a statement: “I need to manage my own expectations, and then work my very core back into shape to be fully ready for action. I have no doubt I’ll bounce back and get there.”

A GoFundMe campaign to help Hunting with medical expenses had previously raised more than $108,000 — including $5,000 from Tom’s former EXODUS bandmate, current METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett, and $1,500 from FOZZY singer and wrestling superstar Chris Jericho.