Month: August 2021

In a new interview with Higgo of “Distortion”, which airs on Australia’s Triple M Hard N Heavy Radio, MINISTRY mainman Al Jourgensen spoke about how the Donald Trump presidency inspired some of the lyrics on the band’s upcoming album, “Moral Hygiene”, as well as its predecessor, 2018’s “AmeriKKKant”. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I just hold a mirror up, and I would be remiss not [to include him on the record]. Everyone’s going, ‘He’s not in the office anymore. Why do you have to still make fun of him?’ Well, no, that’s what I lived through for four years. As a matter of fact, I had to really restrain myself on both the last album and this album on not having him in every song, showing the complete grift and greed and corruption and manipulation of that administration. It made George Bush Junior look like kindergarten. This was something that — it was a test of democracy, of people’s right to vote, everything, which is still going on in the aftermath or the afterbirth of the ‘orange goblin.’ But I had to, because it was such a large part of the last four years of our lives. Not only in America — we were inundated, but you got his tweets there, because it’s all a global social media now. So I thought I’d be remiss not to at least give him a guest appearance.”

However, Jourgensen was quick to point out that Trump is “not the only problem” America has had to deal with in the last few years. “He’s the cancerous mole that comes through the skin, but the cancer is still underneath, and that’s basically what I try and point out,” he explained. “Yeah, he’s an unfortunate circumstance. As a matter of fact, it may be good in the long run for the prognosis of seeing the mole that just sprouts up or a boil. You go to the doctor and then you find out you have cancer. Before it was just a mole, but the doctor tells you it’s much more than just a mole. There you go. So he’s just kind of representative of the sickness that we have on the planet right now.”

Al went on to say that Trump “didn’t cause” division and hatred in America, but he “certainly highlighted it” by opening the floodgates for all of the heretofore closeted bigots to stream out into the open. “People came out from under their rocks,” Jourgensen said. “At least [in the past] racism was behind closed doors in an alleyway. He brought it out into the open. But that’s not him. Trump’s not smart enough to do that. This was straight out of the Russian playbook, the KGB playbook of divide and conquer. If you don’t like capitalism, then make it eat itself. We don’t have to take it over. Instead of spending three trillion dollars on a nuclear war and wiping out half the planet, we can spend a couple of million dollars on a corrupt politician and buy some Russian bots to take over the Internet and feed false information. So they got more bang for buck as far as this war.”

He continued: “This is a war — let’s be clear, this is a war — and they’ve won the war. They have won lock, stock and barrel. They fought a war and won for probably less than five hundred million dollars. We spent how many trillions in Afghanistan and Iraq using force issues. They use social media and some corrupt bribes. Half our senators are bribed. So they got what they wanted. They won. But you know what? I just think that people, if you deprive them of freedom for long enough and they wake up one day and they realize, ‘This sucks.’ I don’t care how many secret police you have or how many surveillance objects you have. It’s the same thing. That’s why I think democracy will win in the end, but it’s a bumpy road, man.”

“Moral Hygiene” is due on October 1 via Nuclear Blast Records. The LP was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on “AmeriKKKant”) at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen’s self-built home studio and creative lab. As with all MINISTRY albums, all songs are written and performed by Jourgensen.

Photo by Derick Smith

During his current solo tour, former MARILYN MANSON and current ROB ZOMBIE guitarist is performing a new song called “Que Pasa”. The track, which will be included on John’s next studio album, “Sinner”, features a guest appearance by MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine.

Regarding how Mustaine came to be involved with the record, John 5 told AL.com: “We had a sample from James Brown, and the record company was, like, ‘We can’t use that sample. We’ll get sued. Who would you want to use?’ And I was, like, ‘Well, I would love to use Dave Mustaine.’ So I reached out and he agreed, and he really liked the song and that’’s gonna be the first video as well. It’s called ‘Que Pasa’.”

John 5 originally shared the news of Mustaine’s appearance on “Sinner” in an interview last month with the 95.5 KLOS radio station. At the time, he said: “We have Dave Mustaine doing a little vocal thing. ‘Cause we have these little vocal hooks in each song. So it’s super cool. And Mustaine did it. And it sounds so good. I love MEGADETH so much, so I was, like, ‘Oh my God. We’ve gotta see if Mustaine will do it.’ And he kills it.”

Fan-filmed video footage of John 5 performing “Que Pasa” — featuring Mustaine’s vocals on a backing tape — at a couple of different stops on his current tour can be seen below.

“Sinner”, which is due on Halloween, will also feature a guest appearance by original KISS drummer Peter Criss. John 5, whose real name is John William Lowery, first discussed Criss’s involvement with “Sinner” during an appearance on Sirius XM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”. He said: “Peter Criss is playing drums on the song ‘Georgia On My Mind’, which is the last song on the record. And I’m telling you… This guy… Barry Pointer, my producer, flew out to Peter’s house, set up a couple of mics. Now, this is a jazz type of song, and Peter is known for that jazz feel he has. I shit you not, he sat behind those drums, played two takes. Barry’s mouth was dropped open. Wait till you hear this. I mean, it was perfect.”

John 5 continued: “It’s something you can’t teach, is this feel and this vibe. And he nailed it in two takes. And Barry was, like, ‘Well, what do we do now?’ It took him, like, literally probably eight minutes. And it was just perfect. He was, like, ‘There’s nothing else we can do. That was perfect.'”

John 5 has worked with a varied range of artists, performing as guitarist for some of the biggest headlining rock bands in the world such as ROB ZOMBIE and MARILYN MANSON, as well as playing session with Paul Stanley, Rod Stewart, LYNYRD SKYNYRD and more. Slash has called John 5 “one of the most mind-blowing guitarists around,” and Rob Zombie has dubbed him “a fucking shredder.” John 5 has released nine solo albums to date, as well as a remix album, and has written music for the likes of Avril Lavigne, GARBAGE, Ricky Martin and others.

JOHN 5 AND THE CREATURES’ latest album, “Invasion”, was released in July 2019.

Legendary guitarist George Lynch recently spoke to Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio about what it has been like to play select shows around the country with his newly christened touring entity GEORGE LYNCH & THE ELECTRIC FREEDOM. He said: “It’s liberating, actually, to be quite honest with you. To have a new band and a new name and a name that — I mean, just the power of the name, ’cause with the new name, which is GEORGE LYNCH’S ELECTRIC FREEDOM, it really is electric freedom. I didn’t even think of it that way, but [ELECTRIC FREEDOM bassist] Michael Devin and I were were talking the other day on the way home, and we were, like, ‘This really defines the band.’ And it really does. Because we’re plugged in, we do a lot of kind of just off-the-cuff improvisation during our show, which you don’t see very much in rock and roll anymore — not since the ’70s. And we’re big fans of that; that’s what we were raised on. So it’s, I think, more alive and vital than your kind of average thing where you go see a band and they’re playing songs they wrote 35 years ago. And sure, it’s great — you wanna hear the songs, and that’s all good. But these guys have been flogging these songs for decades. I’ve been doing that too. And that’s not what I’m about. I mean, I can do it. But I like to bring the audience another perspective and another dimension to what can happen onstage, and that is the creative moment in real time — experiencing that and witnessing that, and for me to play that and the band to play that… And I think the crowd appreciates that. And not just at the moment, but more in retrospect, when they think about it. They think, ‘Wow, actually, that was pretty cool.’ Every time you come see my band, it’s gonna be different. It’s gonna be different members [and] we’re gonna play different material.”

Asked if there are plans to work on new music with GEORGE LYNCH & THE ELECTRIC FREEDOM, George said: “It’s not on the way in the sense that’s we’re working on it, but we have discussed the idea of doing an EP. We wanna go a little more old school and do something that’s pretty easy for us to make instead of taking on a whole album project with a new band. Let’s just do four songs, and let’s hand one out to the fans for free and just get people into it and put a lot of work into those four songs and make it easy, so it’s not this big giant burden for us. And if the EP blows up, which I think it will, then we’ll do — when we’ve been together a little longer, we’ll do a real record. But I definitely believe we need to document what this band is, ’cause it’s very, very cool. It’s a power trio. Michael Devin singing and playing bass, and Jason Sutter is on drums. He’s been in a lot of bands — he’s currently in Cher and he’s been in FOREIGNER and a bunch of other bands. He’s a monster and a sweet guy. And it’s such a cool dynamic with the three of us. It’s just easy. There’s no big-headed egos going on, and it’s not complicated. It’s just the three of us. Everybody’s smart, everybody’s kind, everybody works hard, we’re all very capable, and we’re all shooting for the same thing. So it’s pretty bulletproof. And we also know, on the other hand, it’s not gonna last forever. When Cher calls Jason up to go back on the road, I can’t really compete with that. It’s always gonna be a bit of a revolving door, and it’s unfortunate in some ways, but I’ve learned to accept that and kind of actually just work with that. It’s inevitable, so why not accept it and make it a feature.”

Seven months ago, Lynch offered a lengthy explanation for why he was ending LYNCH MOB during an interview with George Dionne of Metal Express Radio. Addressing questions about why it took him three decades to call it quits with LYNCH MOB, George said: “When we first formed the band in ’89, the name had sort of already been around. While I was in DOKKEN, it’s what I called our little group of guitar fans — I had picks made; it was kind of a little subculture within DOKKEN. When we started working on developing and building the band after DOKKEN broke up, that was just the name that we always thought we’d use, ’cause it was a perfect fit — it’s my name, and it describes it pretty well. And, of course, the negative connotations were always there, and I was aware of ’em, but not as aware as I probably should have been. [Laughs]

“I had made numerous attempts over the decades to kind of let that name go and had walked that back for multiple reasons — usually because of business considerations,” he continued. “For instance, if you try to go out on a tour and not use the name, promoters aren’t gonna be happy with you changing it. People aren’t gonna know who you are. They’re not gonna show up, because what’s THE GEORGE LYNCH EXPERIENCE, or whatever you call it. Or record labels are not interested, because it’s a brand that they can count on and sell a certain many albums or whatever.

“For instance, the LYNCH MOB record ‘Smoke This’ that came out, I think, in ’99 or 2000, that was not supposed to be a LYNCH MOB record; that really wasn’t anything to do with LYNCH MOB. At the end of the day, after the record was done and we were delivering it to the label, they insisted on using that name as insurance. And if I hadn’t agreed to that, we wouldn’t have had a record. That’s the kind of pressure I’m talking about.

“But then, with the onset of everything that’s happened in the last year, I didn’t have that kind of pressure anymore,” George added. “I could take it or leave it at this point. And I didn’t really feel comfortable with it; I didn’t feel comfortable with the name. ‘Cause I’m a very progressive person politically, and it just so flies in the face of everything I believe in, and it makes it hard. It makes it hard to have relationships with people and explain yourself, and I got tired of rationalizing it. I think the music is bigger than that, and it’s had a great run.

“Another reason, too, is the band fell apart again. The band has fallen apart so many times, I can’t even count. And it was just, like, ‘No more Oni [Logan, vocals], no more Brian Tichy [drums], no more this guy, no more that guy. Oh, great. Now what do I do?’ It’s, like, ‘Okay, build another band from scratch, call it LYNCH MOB?’ No. How about just build something new? It gives me a lot more freedom to basically play anything I want live… I can go out and play everything from my catalog — new, old, covers, jams, you name it, and go deep and have fun and change it up every night.”

Oni first hooked up with LYNCH MOB in 1990, but exited the group after the release of its first album, only to rejoin the outfit in the late 2000s.

Logan is featured on five of LYNCH MOB’s eight albums, including 1990’s “Wicked Sensation”, as well as 2009’s “Smoke And Mirrors”, 2014’s “Sun Red Sun”, 2015’s “Rebel” and 2017’s “The Brotherhood”.

In August 2020, LYNCH MOB celebrated the 30th anniversary of “Wicked Sensation” with a special limited print/deluxe edition of the album. “Wicked Sensation Reimagined” features re-worked and re-recorded versions of the LP’s classic songs, and was made available via Rat Pak Records.

Australian avant garde black metallers Norse bring the strange dissonant fire on “Zero Insight.”
The post Track Premiere: Norse — “Zero Insight” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson says that he “can pretty much do anything” on his new titanium hip following his surgery late last year.

The 63-year-old musician, who also previously revealed that he suffered an Achilles tendon rupture, discussed his recent health issues in a new interview with Revolver.

Asked how his Achilles is feeling these days, Dickinson said: “Ha! The Achilles is fine. At the end of April [2019], just about 10 days before I finished all the vocals [for the upcoming MAIDEN album ‘Senjutsu’], I was fencing and all of a sudden it just felt like someone had given me an electric shock in the back of my right leg. I was on the floor, and I looked at my leg and my foot was kind of not really connected to the rest of my leg. I was, like, ‘Well, that’s kind of weird.’ [Laughs] Thirty-six hours later, they stitched it back together in the morning, and I walked out in the afternoon on the boot, which I wore while doing the rest of my vocals. And then after I did the tour, I was still doing rehab on my calf, and all of a sudden, my opposite hip was really hurting, ‘Everybody said, ‘Oh, that’s because you were compensating for your Achilles, and yada yada yada,’ but when I went to the hip doctor and told him, ‘Hey look, this is really bugging me,’ he went, ‘Ah yes — that’s because you’ve got no cartilage left.’ I said, ‘Do I need a new hip?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, you will do.’ So I did two or three more months like that and said, ‘Can we just swap it out?’ Because we were all on lockdown, and it wasn’t like I had anything else to do for the next two or three months. So last October, I had five and a half inches of titanium hammered into my femur, and now I’m back fencing, training, doing everything. My physio says I can pretty much do anything on it, so I am really looking forward to getting back to the States as soon as I possibly can, and then you can see me leaping from tree to tree and monitor to monitor.”

Six years ago, Dickinson had surgery to remove a cancerous lump on his throat. The rocker, who had a golf gall-size tumor on his tongue and another in the lymph node on the right side of his neck, got the all-clear in May 2015 after radiation and nine weeks of chemotherapy.

Bruce previously told iNews that he wanted to cover his cancer battle in his 2017 autobiography, “What Does This Button Do?”, to raise awareness of the condition, which affects people who often have no or minimal history of tobacco or alcohol abuse. The individuals with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer who undergo treatment have a disease-free survival rate of 85 to 90 percent over five years.

Dickinson also expressed disdain for some of the media outlets that suggested he may have gotten tongue cancer from performing oral sex on women.

IRON MAIDEN’s 17th studio album, “Senjutsu”, will be released on September 3 via BMG. The band’s first LP in six years was recorded in 2019 in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris.

Joe Bonamassa has announced the upcoming release of his brand-new studio album, “Time Clocks”, due out on October 29. “Time Clocks” is a testament to his credentials and a toast to his longtime fans. His new sound has a raw and vital flavor, combined with a resolute skill that can only be gained through years of perseverance and unyielding dedication. It’s Joe Bonamassa at his finest, ready to rock. “What started out with the intentions of being a trio record turned into probably my most adventurous and involved record to date,” explains Bonamassa. His longtime producer Kevin Shirley adds, “I think Joe Bonamassa has made an album that is truly transitional. From a blues musician to a superstar artist, [and] I’m so thrilled to be along for the ride.” Joe and Kevin brought on the legendary Bob Clearmountain to mix the epic tracks, and Bob declares that “This is one of the best albums I’ve mixed in years. Joe is not only one of the finest blues and rock guitarists of our time, he’s also a brilliant songwriter, [which is] impressively apparent on this record.”

Recorded in New York City, the album rediscovers Bonamassa at a newfound peak with heartfelt songwriting and an unparalleled blues rock prowess. “Time Clocks” follows Joe’s constant evolution as he continues to forge ahead, bending genres, breaking down walls and defying the odds of the music industry. He’s known as “the man in the suit”, loved by many as the ultimate guitar hero, cited by critics as “the world’s biggest blues guitarist” (Guitar World), and now the music mastermind has found yet another layer of immense new artistry to share with his fans. As one of today’s most in-demand touring acts the road has been long and winding, but the rough journey has molded his craft into gold.

For the album, Bonamassa hit the studio with longtime collaborators Kevin Shirley as producer and manager/business partner Roy Weisman as executive producer. The album was recorded in New York City at Germano Studios/The Hit Factory and mixed by Bob Clearmountain (BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, THE ROLLING STONES, TOTO, BON JOVI). The band members include Steve Mackey (bass), Lachy Doley (piano), Bunna Lawrie (didgeridoo), Bobby Summerfield (percussion), and “Late Night With David Letterman”‘s Anton Fig (drums and percussion), along with Mahalia Barnes, Juanita Tippins and Prinnie Stevens on backing vocals. The fantastic artwork on the album was created by famous graphic artist Hugh Syme (RUSH, AEROSMITH, WHITESNAKE). “Time Clocks” will be available on CD, vinyl and digital and released on Bonamassa’s own record label, J&R Adventures.

Recently Bonamassa dropped hints of the new album with his reeling anthem “Notches”, and with today’s exciting news he’s revealed the next blues-heavy single “The Heart That Never Waits”, another instant classic that takes a tale of heartbreak and turns it around into an undeniable showstopper meant for the stadiums. Joe sings compassionately with an air of independence, in a voice that’s only gotten better with time — a rarity for an artist with such longevity in their career. These songs are a collection of stories that shed new light on Joe’s life as a journeyman, constantly creating and always on the run.

Looking back on recording during COVID-19 and the original intention behind the album, Bonamassa reflects, “Twenty years ago, I recorded a record of covers that eventually was called ‘Blues Deluxe’. It was recorded at Bobby Nathan’s studio in Manhattan. It captured an energy and purpose that always stuck with me as an artist. I lived in New York City at the time and times were pretty tough. My weekly routine was a combination of hustling sessions, gigs, and opportunities that seemed few and far between. I was hungry. Literally and figuratively. The music business is tough, very tough. Especially back in those days when major labels pulled all the strings and, in my case, all the punches. I subsisted on a basic diet of peanut butter and jelly and ramen noodles, purchased at the bodega on the corner of 83rd and Columbus Avenue. Cut to 2019 and I find myself back in New York and inspired by the city again. My living conditions had changed dramatically in the subsequent 20 years, but the energy that makes New York City great still remained.

“In February 2021, we found ourselves at Germano Studios, cutting music as a trio (but not trio music) and having to invent ways of making records when your lifelong producer is stuck in Australia due to travel restrictions. Kevin Shirley came up with a way of linking continents and consoles to where we had literally zero latency. Add Steve Mackey and Anton Fig to the mix, a few masks and curse words and we have the ‘New York Record’ a.k.a. ‘Time Clocks’.”

Now, with an even bolder energy than ever before, Bonamassa holds the power of controlling both his artistry and his business in both hands. With 24 No. 1 albums, yearly sold-out tours worldwide and custom annual cruises, he’s a hard act to beat. Joe knows his worth, and albeit humble, he plans to continue to beat the odds and exceed the expectations of naysayers. “Time Clocks” will also be Bonamassa’s first album mixed to utilize spatial audio with Dolby Atmos and available for fans on Apple Music. Bob Clearmountain adds, “the Atmos version is simply breathtaking.”

In releasing new music that’s destined for the loudspeakers, Joe is elated to get back to the stage. Recently completing a short summer tour in the U.S., he’ll be back on tour for the fall season with shows across the country before taking the stage at sea for his sold-out Keeping The Blues Alive At Sea VII cruise, sailing from Miami, Florida to Ocho Rios, Jamaica on February 21-25, 2022, by way of the Norwegian Pearl.

Photo by Eleanor Jane

Warlock’s 1987 session-musician rich swan song gets its Hall of Fame induction
The post Warlock – Triumph and Agony appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Fan-filmed video footage of JOURNEY’s August 24 concert at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course’s myheroes Stage in Grantville, Pennsylvania can be seen below. The show was originally scheduled for Sunday, August 22 but was postponed due to inclement weather.

JOURNEY made its return to the live stage on July 29 during a special “aftershow” at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom. The concert took place just two days before JOURNEY’s appearance at Lollapalooza on the Bud Light Seltzer stage at Grant Park.

JOURNEY’s lineup for the above-mentioned shows included the return of drummer Deen Castronovo, who shared the drum duties in the band with Narada Michael Walden. Walden, bassist Randy Jackson and keyboardist/backing singer Jason Derlatka all joined JOURNEY last year following the band’s acrimonious split with drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory. Jackson — who previously played with JOURNEY during the mid-1980s — was forced to miss all the recent gigs because he was scheduled to undergo back surgery. Filling in for him was Marco Mendoza, who previously played several shows in 2019 with Castronovo and JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon under the “Neal Schon’s Journey Through Time” banner.

In June, JOURNEY shared a new single, “The Way We Used To Be”. The song was the multi-platinum band’s first new music since 2011’s album “Eclipse”, and the first track released by the band’s revamped lineup. “The Way We Used To Be” marks Walden and Derlatka’s first studio recordings with the band, and Jackson’s first since 1986’s “Raised On Radio”. The song was produced by Narada Michael Walden at his Tarpan Studios, with co-production by Schon and Cain.