Month: August 2021

SKID ROW celebrated the 30th anniversary of its classic second album, “Slave To The Grind”, by performing it in its entirety last night (Thursday, August 5; postponed from July 11) at The Amphitheater at Rolling Hills Casino And Resort in Corning, California. Fan-filmed video footage of the show can be seen below.

Last summer, SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan told SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that he and his bandmates would embark on a “Slave To The Grind” 30th-anniversary tour in 2021. “We’ll do the album in its entirety, and then we’re gonna do a bunch of stuff to coincide with it,” he said. “We’re pretty psyched, and the shows are booked. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that everything is gonna come to pass… It’ll be cool, to go out there and do ‘Slave To The Grind’ top to the bottom. That’ll be fun.”

According to Bolan, SKID ROW didn’t celebrate the 30th anniversary of the band’s self-titled debut album in 2019 because “the timing didn’t really work out. We had so much other stuff planned, and then all of a sudden, boom, it was here,” he explained. “Maybe down the road [we’ll celebrate it]. Maybe [for the] 40th [anniversary]. [Laughs]”

As previously reported, former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach will also celebrate the “Slave To The Grind” anniversary on a U.S. tour this fall. He will perform the LP in its entirety at all shows on the trek, which will kick off in October.

Bach previously performed “Slave To The Grind” in its entirety in October 2019 at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California. Earlier that fall, he completed a U.S. tour during which he celebrated the 30th anniversary of SKID ROW’s self-titled debut album.

In June 2019, Bach issued an “open invitation” to the other members of SKID ROW’s classic lineup to “get onstage and jam” during the vocalist’s last tour. A few days later, during an interview with Finland’s Kaaos TV, guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo confirmed that he would not accept Bach’s latest overture. “I’m working with my band,” he said. “This is SKID ROW, and this is what I do.”

Drummer Rob Affuso — who left SKID ROW in 1998 and claims to be “the only former member that keeps in contact with all former SKID ROW bandmates and is still good friends with them all” — subsequently joined Bach in September 2019 at Sony Hall in New York City to play the band’s classic song “Makin’ A Mess”.

Asked by Rolling Stone if he thinks his former bandmates are offended that he put his invitation out there publicly, Bach said: “No. I think it’s an ego thing. They don’t like when I get attention, and they don’t get attention. It’s always been like that. I can already see them getting mad, because I’m selling out shows, and they’re not part of the show, and blah, blah, blah.”

Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY.

In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of Bolan and guitarists Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger.

SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing ex-TNT vocalist Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by South African-born, British-based singer ZP Theart, who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I.

In February 2019, Sabo told “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that SKID ROW came “pretty close” to reuniting with Bach after Harnell’s exit from the band. But then he clarified: “I said ‘pretty close,’ and that’s actually not true. Because we didn’t get beyond text messaging each other, to be quite honest. The same old stuff just seemed to exist where there was this confrontational sort of demeanor going back and forth between myself and Sebastian.

“I’m so proud of what we were able to create throughout the entire history of this band, and that will never change,” he continued. “But some things just don’t work anymore and people go their separate ways and you can’t get that back together. And I’m fine with that.

“I play music to be happy,” Sabo added. “I don’t play music for a paycheck. It’s great to get paid to do what you love. But I’ve never done it for the money. It’s always been about my love of music, and that’s what it still is. At my old crusty age, it’s still because I love the guitar and I love creating. And I love the response. I love being able to connect in some way with an audience. That’s why I started playing music — because I didn’t know how to communicate, so it came out through music, through songs.

“Playing with [ZP] in the band has brought a real joyousness back to our lives. You can see it — it’s not faked or phony. You can see it when we play. And that’s what I live for — I live for those moments of just absolute joy.

“A reunion [with Sebastian] would have been great for a lot of other people who have wanted to see that happen,” Snake said. “But for us, it would not have been pleasurable, to be quite honest.”

Shane Embury’s solo venture of dark ambient soundscapes and unsettling industrial noise textures, Dark Sky Burial, returns with its third full-length release since March 2020. 
The post Full Album Stream: Dark Sky Burial – ‘Vincit qui Se Vincit’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

During an appearance on Zetro’s Toxic Vault, the YouTube channel of EXODUS frontman Steve “Zetro” Souza, former MACHINE HEAD drummer Chris Kontos and Zetro recalled Chris’s brief stint as the drummer for EXODUS when the San Francisco Bay area thrash act opened for MOTÖRHEAD for two shows in Argentina in 1993. Speaking about the backstage shenanigans that took place during the short tour, Zetro said: “Me and Rick [Hunolt, then-EXODUS guitarist] bought crank [Editor’s note: slang term for methamphetamine] off of [MOTÖRHEAD mainman] Lemmy… We were at the venue ’cause we had the soundcheck. And you guys went back. But me and Rick stayed there, and Lemmy was in his dressing room. We knew he had crank. And Rick goes, ‘Let’s ask Lemmy for some. Zetro, go ask him.’ ‘You ask him.’ ‘You ask him.’… So I walk up to him [and say], ‘Lemmy, hey, bro, you think you can sell me and Rick some of your whizz?’ ‘Cause they called it whizz. And he’s all, [imitates Lemmy’s voice] ‘I didn’t know you guys did this stuff. I thought you did that cocaine shit.’ And I was, like, ‘No. We like crank. We like to get wired.’ He fucking pulls out this… He’s got it in his jacket — in a patch. He had this patch that was there, and then [he would pull it back], and it was right there. And I’m, like, ‘You brought that in?’ ‘Cause back then you didn’t carry. It was the ’80s. You didn’t fucking transport shit. If you got caught with anything, you were in trouble, especially in South America. And so he gives it to us. And Lemmy tells me, he goes, ‘You know, when you’re on speed, you’re 80 percent smarter going up, but you’re 80 percent dumber when you’re coming down.'”

He continued: “We just sat there drinking Jack. And so me and Rick, we snorted it. [Lemmy] took a spoonful and he put it in his mouth. And I went, like [makes puking sound]. I wanted to puke… And we sat there for five hours in MOTÖRHEAD’s dressing room — me, Rick and Lemmy, drinking Jack and doing crank. [It was] not the first day [of the tour]; it was the second day. And I was telling everybody, ‘Till the day I die, I’m gonna be telling this fucking story to my grandkids.’ And I’m telling this fucking story now. Lemmy’s gone. And I even said that, ‘I’ll be telling this story way after Lemmy’s gone.’ And I tell the story. And it’s just, like, oh, man, it was the time… It was early ’90s. It was still on. The game was still on, bro.”

In a 2009 interview with Kerrang! Radio, Lemmy said that drugs never became a problem for him. “I was always in control of it,” he said. “You can’t let it get control of you. You can let it do things for you, and then when it gets to the point where you think, ‘I can’t move a muscle if I don’t have something,’ then that’s bad; then it’s taking you. The only thing I ever saw anybody die on was heroin and downers, which is a longing for heroin. I never did heroin. I always had enough sense, touch wood, to stay away from it, because it killed my old lady and it killed a lot of my friends, and it didn’t kill them well. First it turns you into a thief and then it kills you. It’s a miserable drug, I wish people would realize that. It’s fashionable again now, isn’t it? Escapism. But you can only escape so far. When you wake up after escaping, the problem’s still there, so it’s worse.”

Asked what he thought of people going to rehab, Lemmy said: “I just think that the people pretend that they never took drugs. ‘I’m clean now,’ as if it’s a good thing. It’s all a personal joy. A lot of people died and a lot of people didn’t; a lot of people went into rehab and a lot of people didn’t. It’s a personal thing, and it’s up to you.”

Lemmy died on December 28, 2015 at the age of 70 shortly after learning he had been diagnosed with cancer.

MOTÖRHEAD had to cancel a number of shows in 2015 because of Lemmy’s poor health, although the band did manage to complete a European tour a couple of weeks before his death.

Former GUNS N’ ROSES and current SIXX:A.M. guitarist DJ Ashba has shared a new video in which he discusses the upcoming live show from his ASHBA project, which mixes his rock guitar with electronic music in what he previously described as the “perfect blend of rock and EDM.”

“What I wanna do is just bring a super high-energy not only audio but visual — just super high-energy,” he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “Where do you go from where I’ve been? I’ve played with some of the biggest players in the industry — GUNS N’ ROSES, SIXX:A.M. to Neil Diamond… I’ve been very fortunate. I got to work with a lot of great people. I just worked with Debbie Gibson who’s a dear friend. And where do you go from that? I could start another rock band, but I have SIXX:A.M. So, creatively, I wanted to really step way outside of my comfort zone. So bringing a show to the fans — something so different than they’ve ever seen — was super important to me. The bar is set very high, but we’re just dumping every bit of creativity into the look, the sound, the feel.

“I’m at that age where I just wanna throw a huge, massive party every time I walk on stage,” he added. “And what’s great about this is there’s zero drama. It’s just creative, it’s fun and it’s exciting.”

Last December, Ashba told “The Mark And HooGie Show” that he isn’t concerned about getting any pushback from his rock fans over the musical direction of his new venture: “Honestly, I’m at a point in my career where I could give two fucks,” he said. “I could care less. If people don’t like it, kiss my ass. Go listen to SIXX:A.M. If what I’m doing right now isn’t rock enough, I’ve got a rock band. They can go listen to that then.

“My fanbase, thank God, has been, throughout my whole career, just very, very accepting,” he continued. “They know me — they know I’m always trying to really push myself as an artist outside the box.

“If I had to live within this box, I’d rather honestly not play music. Playing music is a form of art, and if I can’t truly be an artist and be true to what it is inside — whatever that is that keeps me going… I have to stay inspired. You can only write so many three-chord rock songs. So, to me, this is something that I’m kind of more doing for myself, and I feel like I kind of have earned that at this point in my career. And I’m just having fun.

“Surprisingly… It was weird. I was totally expecting for all my fanbase just to hate it — not get it,” Ashba added. “‘Cause I really, really go deep down in EDM — I stayed very, very true to the EDM sound — and I really thought they were gonna hate it, and I was okay with that. ‘Cause in my mind, I’m writing this for the EDM, the young kids that go to those festivals. This is full-on festival music. And surprisingly, I got no pushback. My rock fans really, really were freaking out on it, which kind of freaked me out. I was expecting them to really not get it or maybe push it aside. But they’ve been nothing but supportive. I’m very thankful that they gave it a chance.”

ASHBA’s “Let’s Dance” single featured a guest appearance by James Michael, co-founder and lead singer of SIXX:A.M., which he and DJ formed with Nikki Sixx (MÖTLEY CRÜE).

“Hypnotic” and “Let’s Dance” will appear on ASHBA’s first full-length effort. According to DJ, he will promote the LP by embarking on a tour on which he will be joined only by a VJ.

Ashba told the Las Vegas Review-Journal about the musical approach of his new effort: “I would go to a lot of EDM concerts, and their shows are so over the top and, you know, all these young kids just losing their minds, right? And the one thing that I’ve noticed is … it lacks guitar, you know, and I saw an opportunity, like five years ago, going, ‘If I could take what I do and somehow inject it into this world.’ A lot of kids are not being exposed to a lot of guitar in that world.”

Although Ashba initially started work on the project as a collaboration with Michael — under the band name PYROMANTIC — it has since evolved into an Ashba solo venture, with Michael announcing in 2018 that he was stepping away from the group.

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Axl Rose dedicated “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” to recently deceased rapper Biz Markie during GUNS N’ ROSES’ concert last night (Thursday, August 5) at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He also sang a few lines of Markie’s hit “Just A Friend” before and during the song “November Rain”. Rose apparently met Markie in 2006. At the time, Markie was impressed by Axl’s car, Rose said.

Biz Markie, born Marcel Theo Hall, died last month at the age of 57. His death was confirmed by his manager, Jenni D. Izumi. Hall had reportedly been ill for months, but Izumi did not provide an official cause of death, according to NPR.

GUNS N’ ROSES kicked off its summer 2021 tour on July 31 at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Dubbed “We’re F’N Back!”, this trek comes on the heels of the “Not In This Lifetime” run that began in April 2016 and became the No. 3 highest-grossing tour in the history of Billboard Boxscore.

As was the case with “Not In This Lifetime”, the current GUNS N’ ROSES tour features classic-lineup members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Axl Rose (vocals) backed by guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer, keyboardist Dizzy Reed and second keyboardist Melissa Reese.

The massive touring production will make stops in Detroit, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, and more before wrapping up with two shows in Hollywood, Florida, at the Hard Rock Live Arena on October 2 and 3, 2021.

Guitar virtuoso Marc Rizzo (SOULFLY, CAVALERA CONSPIRACY) has launched HAIL THE HORNS, a new project alongside bassist Tony Campos (STATIC-X, FEAR FACTORY, SOULFLY) and drummer Christian “Opus” Lawrence (DEAD BY WEDNESDAY, ELLEFSON). The trio has recorded a cover of the KISS classic “God Of Thunder”, with Campos handling lead vocals. The track was recorded by Joey Concepcion and Nicky Bellmore (Dexters Lab Studio) and mixed by Matthew Nevitt (Inkei Studios). A lyric video for the track is available below.

HAIL THE HORNS has announced Midwest tour dates for November 2021:

Nov. 18 – Lombard, IL – Brauerhouse
Nov. 19 – Fort Wayne, IN – Piere’s
Nov. 20 – Des Moines, IA – Venue TBA
Nov. 21 – Braidwood, IL – Top Fuel Saloon

In addition, Rizzo will release his first-ever “best-of” compilation, “Living Shred Vol. 1”, on September 10 via Godsize Records. The collection features 11 tracks spanning his four-album solo discography.

Catch Rizzo on tour this month with WHISKEYDICK:

Aug. 13 – Sioux Falls, SD – Big’s Bar w/ Enuff Z’Nuff
Aug. 14 – New Market, MN – The Doublewide
Aug. 15 – Green Bay, WI – Old School Bar
Aug. 16 – Pekin, IL – Twisted Spoke Saloon
Aug. 17 – Braidwood, IL – Top Fuel Saloon
Aug. 18 – Lombard, IL – Brauerhouse
Aug. 19 – Kansas City, MO – The Westport Saloon
Aug. 20 – Durham, CT -Soft Tail Saloon
Aug. 21 – Syracuse, NY – Outdoor Event
Aug. 24 – Denver, CO – Lion’s Lair
Aug. 25 – Colorado Springs, CO – The Triple Nickel
Aug. 26 – Amarillo, TX – Zombiez
Aug. 27 – Fort Worth, TX – The Rail Club

Yesterday it was announced that FEAR FACTORY’s Dino Cazares will play guitar for SOULFLY on the Max Cavalera-fronted band’s upcoming U.S. tour. The 33-date trek kicks off on August 20 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and will make stops in New York, Chicago and Austin before concluding in Tempe, Arizona on September 25. The final date will be a family celebration as it will include performances by INCITE, GO AHEAD AND DIE and HEALING MAGIC. Joining the band for select dates are NIVIANE and SUICIDE PUPPETS.

Rizzo has not yet publicly commented on his apparent exit from SOULFLY.

Back in 2018, Max praised Rizzo, telling “The Classic Metal Show”: “He loves what he does; he loves playing in SOULFLY; he loves working with me. We are totally connected. He gives 150 percent every show, no matter if there’s ten people or ten thousand, which is rare. Sometimes when there’s not a lot of people, it’s hard to go out there and still be excited and he does it. I do believe he’s underrated big-time, but I’m kind of happy about that because if he gets too big, then he will go away. He will join a big band. I’ll be out looking for another guitar player and it would suck. It would really suck to lose Marc. I’m kind of happy. It’s almost like a secret thing that we have, this treasure that we have. He’s fantastic. He’s an amazing guitar player. I sit sometimes around the dressing room just to hear him play. Just go in the dressing room to hang out while he’s practicing just to hear him playing some of the flamenco sections in the dressing room or when he’s just shredding. He’s killer. He is a true, true guitar hero.”

Video footage of MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil performing the band’s classic songs “Dr. Feelgood” and “Looks That Kill” at a private concert last night (Thursday, August 5) in Austin, Texas can be seen below. Also appearing at the event was Sammy Hagar, according to SiriusXM radio personality Eddie Trunk, who shared the clips on his Instagram page.

Last night’s show came more than two months after Neil struggled to complete his solo concert at the Boone Iowa River Valley Festival in Boone. Based on fan-filmed video footage of the gig posted on YouTube, the 60-year-old rocker, who hadn’t performed in more than a year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic, began losing his voice several songs into his set, which consisted exclusively of CRÜE classics and cover songs previously recorded by the band.

14 songs into the performance, Vince attempted to sing CRÜE’s smash hit “Girls, Girls, Girls” but gave up mid-song, explaining to the crowd: “Hey, guys… I’m sorry, you guys. It’s been a long time playin’. My fuckin’ voice is gone… Eh… We love you, and we’ll hopefully see you next time, man. Take care.”

After Neil walked off the stage, his backing band — which still consists of bassist Dana Strum and guitarist Jeff “Blando” Bland from SLAUGHTER, along with drummer Zoltan Chaney — continued to play the song, singing along to what appeared to be pre-recorded backing vocals.

MÖTLEY CRÜE’s “The Stadium Tour” with DEF LEPPARD, POISON and JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS was originally scheduled to take place last summer but ended up being pushed back to 2021, and then to 2022, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In December 2019, CRÜE manager Allen Kovac told Fox Business that “some of” the bandmembers had enlisted outside help to get in shape for the trek. Kovac was referring to criticism of Neil for his supposed diminished singing ability and weight gain, as well as the health status of guitarist Mick Mars, who has been dealing with a chronic form of arthritis that led him to undergo a hip replacement.

Kovac explained: “Some of them are working with a trainer, some of them are working with a nutritionist to make themselves the best they can be. The greatest insecurity for an artist is: Is anyone going to care about my music? Is anyone going to buy a ticket? We were in November [2019] when the discussions were happening, and these guys were already into regimens of how they get ready for a tour.”

Speaking specifically about Neil, Kovac added: “Let’s see what Vince sings like and looks like when the tour goes out.”

CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx also said that Vince was “killing it” while working with “trainers” and “nutritionists” in preparation for “The Stadium Tour”.

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Norwegian metal avant-gardists ENSLAVED will release a new EP, “Caravan To The Outer Worlds”, on October 1 via Nuclear Blast. According to a press release, the four-song effort “is a tale of departure, of leaving behind a barren and desolate world, travelling boldly into the future.”

ENSLAVED’s Ivar Bjørnson comments: “This is the story that wanted to be told, and this is music that demanded to be heard. Who are we to question that? After ‘Utgard’, the path ahead cleared itself — and we followed; past, present and future melted together in an EP that marks one giant leap for us. Into…”

Watch the video for EP title track, “Caravans To The Outer Worlds”, below.

The “Caravans To The Outer Worlds” EP contains neck-breaking riffage that points backwards to the raw beginnings of ENSLAVED — the title track marking an explosive lift-off with melodic breakaways and proggy slingshots onto new orbits, while the ominous “Ruun II: The Epitaph” takes a somber dive into the murky and mysterious ocean of stars beyond the known. These two main pieces are framed by two intermezzos: “Intermezzo I: Lönnlig. Gudlig.” and “Intermezzo II: The Navigator”, wrapping up the main stories with respectively what came before and what is to come.

“Caravans To The Outer Worlds” EP track listing:

01. Caravans To The Outer Worlds
02. Intermezzo I: Lonnlig. Gudlig.
03. Ruun II – The Epitaph
04. Intermezzo II: The Navigator

ENSLAVED’s latest album, “Utgard”, was released in October 2019 via Nuclear Blast.

Italian rockers and Eurovision 2021 winners MÅNESKIN have teamed up with Iggy Pop on a new version of their hit single “I Wanna Be Your Slave”. You can now listen to the track below.

MÅNESKIN first teased the collaboration via a cryptic video posted on their social media, showing a Zoom call with Pop.

The Rome-based quartet said in a statement: “It was such an honor that Iggy loved our music and wanted to work with us. It was touching seeing him sing ‘I Wanna Be Your Slave’ live in front of us. It was very powerful to see such a big artist being so open and friendly. We all grew up listening to his music and he inspired us to start up a band. It’s still unbelievable for us that we had the chance to get to know him and make music together.”

“I Wanna Be Your Slave” is taken from MÅNESKIN’s latest album “Teatro D’ira: Vol I”, which was released in March. The LP has since been certified platinum in Italy and now boasts over 400 million streams.

Following its epic win at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, MÅNESKIN has climbed up the charts worldwide, achieving unprecedented results for Italian artists: they are the first Italian band in the history of music to crack the U.K. singles chart with two singles at the same time — at No. 6 and No. 10 — and collecting new certifications every week, both in Italy and abroad.

“I Wanna Be Your Slave” was certified platinum in Italy, as well as in Finland and Poland and six-times platinum in Russia, and was certified gold in Austria, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Turkey; “Zitti E Buoni” (three times platinum in Italy) was certified gold in the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and was certified platinum in Finland, Greece, Ireland, Poland and five-times platinum in Russia; “Begginc” was certified gold in Finland, Malaysia, Poland, seven-times platinum in Russia and is climbing up the Spotify Top 50 charts in Canada, Australia, while “I Wanna Be Your Slave” also climbs the chart in Canada, Brazil, Australia and Peru, where it also peaked at No. 1 on the Viral 50 chart, together with seven other songs by MÅNESKIN.

MÅNESKIN will grace the stage at the greatest music festivals in Europe during the summer of 2021 and in 2022, alongside some of the biggest names in the global music scene, and will perform, for the first time ever, at key sports arenas in Italy as part of their 13-date tour across the country (organized and produced by Vivo Concerti). That trek already boasts over 100,000 tour tickets sold and six sold-out concerts, and which will be held this winter and next spring.