Month: August 2021

Hammerheart Records has announced a co-operation with San Francisco Bay Area legends BLIND ILLUSION. The band’s new album, “Wrath Of The Gods”, will arrive in 2022.

BLIND ILLUSION’s current lineup features founding member Marc Biedermann (guitars and vocals), along with Tom Gears (bass), Doug Piercy (guitar; ex-HEATHEN) and Andy Galeon (drums; ex-DEATH ANGEL).

Formed in 1979 by Biedermann, BLIND ILLUSION had an extremely unstable lineup (Biedermann being the only constant member) and went through a few stylistic changes in its early years.

BLIND ILLUSION’s debut studio album, “The Sane Asylum”, was released in 1988.

After leaving BLIND ILLUSION, bassist Les Claypool and guitarist Larry LaLonde went on to form the alternative psychedelic funk metal band PRIMUS.

Biedermann reformed BLIND ILLUSION in 2009 and in July 2010 the band released its sophomore album, “Demon Master”.

Guido Heijnens, owner of Hammerheart Records, commented: “When I was young and got involved into more extreme kinds of metal, my first love was, of course, thrash metal. Soon my world was filled with sounds made by METALLICA, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX and SLAYER. And, of course, thrash metal from Germany and thrash metal from the Bay Area. The Bay Area sound provided me with albums from TESTAMENT, VIO-LENCE, HEATHEN, EXODUS and also BLIND ILLUSION and their great 1988 album ‘The Sane Asylum’.

“Fast forward to 2021 then. BLIND ILLUSION sends the recordings of ‘Wrath Of The Gods’ to Hammerheart Records and what is delivered is a logical follow-up to ‘The Sane Asylum’… thinking man’s thrash metal, old school in vibe and full of the genre’s trademarks. So both band and label decide to join forces. In early 2022 Hammerheart Records will release ‘Wrath Of The Gods’ and reissue ‘The Sane Asylum’ at the same time (with a bonus disc full of ’80s demos).

“Expect Bay Area thrash metal: great riffs, killer solos and a solid foundation laid by bass and drums. More details on the exact formats will follow along the way.”

Bassist Jeff Pilson has revealed the classic lineup of DOKKEN is planning a retrospective boxed set.

Pilson, speaking this past spring on the “White Line Fever” podcast, repeated his previously stated ambition for singer Don Dokken, guitarist George Lynch, drummer Mick Brown and himself to release one more record of completely new material together and also spoke about solidifying the band’s legacy by having more of its music licensed in the media.

“We’re talking about possibly doing a box set at some point and throwing in a lot of interesting bonus stuff,” Pilson told Australian journalist Steve Mascord.

“I mean, I would love to do one more DOKKEN record. Right now Don is involved in his own version of the band and doing a record so we can’t really deal with a reunion record at this point. Maybe never. Who knows? But once he’s done with that and we address this again, I’d love to do another record. I’d love our legacy to … I just feel like we still have something to say musically. We got together for the reunion a few years ago and we did one new song and our chemistry was as intact as ever. It really felt unchanged. So my sense is it’s there and if we tapped into it, we could come up with a great record.

“So that’s one thing I’d like to do for our legacy. The other thing is .. I feel like DOKKEN music was under-utilized in just the social panorama of music out there so maybe somebody can do something like that.”

Pilson joked the City of Las Vegas could use 1984 single “Just Got Lucky” as its theme song.

“We do have plans for the DOKKEN legacy,” he said. “I hope it’s concluded with a record but again, it’s so hard to say right now and it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen. But know that we are thinking about it and moving in that direction.”

Asked about Don Dokken’s recent complications from back surgery which limited his use of his hands, and whether this might affect any reunion, Pilson said: “Only in to what degree his endurance is. I don’t think he’s done a lot of live performing since that. He’s done some so I guess he can do it.

“We haven’t talked those sorts of specifics because we haven’t really talked a reunion. I mean, we’ve talked a little bit about it. I guess it’s a factor. He’s certainly able to write lyrics and melodies so we can certainly work together. I don’t think we’re limited.

“He was a writer of music as well with DOKKEN but not as much as George — or George and I working together were. So we would have no lack of music. As long as he could write lyrics and melody, we’d be fine.”

Pilson was also asked about new material by what is now his main band, FOREIGNER.

“We are working on some new songs, some great new material, but there’s absolutely no deadline or schedule or plan for how it’s going to come out,” he said.

“I think it’s safe to say that we’re probably not going to do a whole record of all new material. I don’t see that on the horizon but I see new material being added in new packages and other things that we’re releasing. All I know is we’ve been working on music and there’s some really good stuff out there.”

THE ROLLING STONES drummer Charlie Watts won’t be able to join his bandmates on their fall USA tour.

The 80-year-old musician was planning to take part in the “No Filter” trek, which is scheduled to kick off on September 26 in St. Louis. Filling in for him will be his “great friend” Steve Jordan.

“Charlie has had a procedure which was completely successful,” a spokesperson the group said in a statement, “but I gather his doctors this week concluded that he now needs proper rest and recuperation. With rehearsals starting in a couple of weeks it’s very disappointing to say the least, but it’s also fair to say no one saw this coming.”

“For once my timing has been a little off,” Watts added. “I am working hard to get fully fit but I have today accepted on the advice of the experts that this will take a while. After all the fans’ suffering caused by COVID I really do not want the many fans who have been holding tickets for this tour to be disappointed by another postponement or cancellation. I have therefore asked my great friend Steve Jordan to stand in for me.”

Jordan, who has previously played with THE ROLLING STONES guitarist Keith Richards, said: “It is an absolute honor and a privilege to be Charlie’s understudy and I am looking forward to rehearsing with Mick [Jagger], Keith and Ronnie [Wood]. No one will be happier than me to give up my seat on the drum riser as soon as Charlie tells me he is good to go.”

Although Watts isn’t a founding member of THE STONES, he has been with the band since January 1963.

He battled throat cancer in 2004 but got the all clear after undergoing two operations.

The “No Filter” tour, which was originally supposed to happen last year, will hit 15 cities from September through November.

TWISTED SISTER singer Dee Snider has dismissed the notion that rock is dead.

While rock and roll has been king of the music world for decades, in the past few years, it’s been unseated by the growing popularity of hip-hop. This has caused many pundits to proclaim the genre “dead” from an industry perspective, noting that it has been eclipsed in all measures by pop, hip-hop, and EDM.

A few years ago, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons told Esquire magazine that “rock did not die of old age. It was murdered. Some brilliance, somewhere, was going to be expressed and now it won’t because it’s that much harder to earn a living playing and writing songs. No one will pay you to do it.”

A number of hard rock and heavy metal musicians have weighed in on the topic in a variety of interviews over the last several years, with some digging a little deeper into Simmons’s full remarks and others just glossing over the headline.

Snider, who is currently promoting his new solo album, “Leave A Scar”, spoke about rock’s supposed diminishing status during a recent interview with Consequence Of Sound. Addressing Gene’s “rock is dead” comment, Dee said: “He makes me crazy. I mean, I love him, I love KISS., but I wish he would just shut the hell up with this. And he doubles down on it. This statement of ‘rock’s dead, there are no rock stars, don’t bother,’ all that shit, it’s just so self-serving and self absorbed. It’s selfish. It’s, like, ”Cause it’s not doing it my way, it doesn’t have value. It’s not the way it was when I was coming up, so it’s not rock and roll anymore.’ Anyway, that’s bullshit.”

“Leave A Scar” was released on July 30 via Napalm Records. The album was once again produced by HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta, with co-production, mixing and mastering by drummer Nick Bellmore.

During an appearance on a video podcast hosted by Todd Kerns, the bassist of SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS, legendary bassist Billy Sheehan discussed his decision to move to Nashville in 2017 after living in Los Angeles for more than three decades. Referencing the fact that Nashville is internationally known for country music, Billy said: “I’m not a country guy, so I don’t know a lot about old-school country. I like it just because it’s kind of culturally amazing — Johnny Cash and Ernest Tubb and Conway Twitty and guys like that. I think it’s pretty cool.

“When I first began listening to music, they played country along with rock a lot of times. It was on the same station until the dividing lines got more solid.

“But there’s a lot of rock guys here [in Nashville] now,” he explained. “Tom Petersson from CHEAP TRICK is here. Ray Luzier from KORN; he’s a good buddy of mine. We work together a lot. And a long list [of other rock musicians]. So it’s pretty cool.

“But, yeah, I miss L.A.,” Billy admitted. “You can’t beat the weather. But it’s just sad what’s going on with the crime and the homeless and all that. I was there 32 years. It was amazing, and I paid my 14 percent state tax every year. Now [in Tennessee] it’s zero.”

Sheehan has played with David Lee Roth, MR. BIG, THE WINERY DOGS, TALAS and SONS OF APOLLO. He’s also won Guitar Player magazine’s “Best Bass Player” poll several times and is in-demand at clinics and as a session player.

Sheehan has played bass on dozens of records and toured all over the world for many decades, with a unique and original style of playing that has been widely celebrated and documented. Starting in his former hometown of Buffalo, New York with the now legendary hard rock trio TALAS, he went on to join former VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth in 1985, along with guitarist Steve Vai and drummer Gregg Bissonette. In 1987, Billy left to start his own band, MR. BIG, and in 2002, he founded NIACIN, a fusion/blues trio that featured drummer Dennis Chambers. More recently, Billy joined former DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist Richie Kotzen to form THE WINERY DOGS.

Outspoken conservative rocker Ted Nugent has defended his right to bear arms under the Second Amendment, arguing that he “got it from God.”

The 72-year-old rocker discussed his natural-born rights as an American while talking to Tucker Carlson for the newest episode of Fox Nation’s “Tucker Carlson Today”.

“I was born with the right to keep and bear arms. I was born with the right to speak up. I was born with the right to privacy from my government intrusion without just cause. I was born with that,” Ted said. “I could come here naked without any Constitution and I know I could say what I want to say. I don’t have to get the king’s permission.

“Kings, emperors, tyrants, kiss my ass,” he continued. “We are a self-government. We are in charge, we hire people to represent us based on these self-evident truths. And if you infringe on them, we will fire your ass and don’t make us arrest you.”

Nugent went on to say that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to protect the nation from tyranny.

“[The Second Amendment] says any rights here that are not numerated are up to the states. It’s here and enumerated,” he said. “It’s written down, I can keep bear arms in America, in every building, on every street corner, wherever I want. I got it from God. The Founding Fathers just happened to write it down in case somebody wanted to play king.”

Late last month, Nugent resigned from the board of the National Rifle Association (NRA) after 26 years.

In a July 29 e-mail from NRA general counsel John Frazer sent to board members, it was announced that Nugent, who joined the board in 1995, was stepping down “due to ongoing schedule conflicts.”

Ted’s decision to leave the board came less than a year after he told Newsmax’s “The Chris Salcedo Show” that the National Rifle Association was “he most important civil rights organization in the world.”

Last month, Nugent blamed the recent rise in violent crime and gun violence in America on recidivism, a measure of convicted criminals who commit another offense and re-enter prison. “There isn’t a gun problem in America,” he insisted. “There is an intentional engineered recidivism problem in America. You wanna stop ninety-six percent of the violent crimes. Don’t let ’em out.”

This past March, Nugent threatened President Joe Biden and other Democrats, telling them to “come and take it” just hours before the House of Representatives passed two gun-safety bills. In a March 11 Facebook post, Nugent addressed Biden and “all you other oath violating traitors,” writing, “Google my address and itinerary and Come and Take It!” He also proclaimed, “If you want to play Concorde bridge again, you will be the British and I will be the Americans, again.”
Watch the latest video at <a href=”https://www.foxnews.com”>foxnews.com</a>

TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy has outlined some of the changes that will be made to the meet-and-greet sessions on the band’s upcoming tour as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Billy, who was one of the first metal musicians to test positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, discussed TESTAMENT’s plans to keep the bandmembers and fans safe in a video message he shared on Instagram earlier today (Wednesday, August 4).

He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re getting ready to get back on tour [in the U.S.], October [and] November, with ‘The Bay Strikes Back’, with TESTAMENT, EXODUS [and] DEATH ANGEL. A killer package.

“I just wanna talk about a little bit… Of course, you guys know we came off ‘The Bay Strikes Back’ in Europe [in March 2020]. I think everybody in the bands — all three bands — were sick with COVID. So we’re getting ready to go out on this tour, and we’ve gotta kind of approach things a little different. First of all, we wanna be able to put on a performance and a show for everybody that’s been stuck at home for so long dying to get some music, shows under the belt. So we’re gonna do things a little different as far as… We do wanna offer a meet-and-greet with our fans, but we’re gonna do things a little bit different and offer a soundcheck so we actually don’t really have to touch each other and be that close to each other to spread a virus if someone does carry it. Because if one person gets sick on this tour, the tour is over. So, we’re trying to do everything we can to keep the fans safe, to keep the bands safe and keep us working so the tour doesn’t end. So I wanna apologize, ’cause I know I like to come out after the show and hang out with some fans, sign things, talk to everybody. And it’s gonna be a little different this time. So I wanna apologize in advance to those of you who’ve been hanging out after the shows and I visit with. You’re gonna have to wait a little longer — maybe until next summer, when the tour comes through. But I wanted to make everybody aware of that.

“We’re all gonna have to do this together, do our part,” he continued. “Either be vaccinated. And if you’re not vaccinated and you wanna come see the show, do everybody else a favor — wear a mask. I mean, that’s your choice. We’re just trying to do everything we can to keep this tour going, keep fans entertained, and, most of all, keep us and the crews working. I would hate to get out there and start a tour and then, in the middle of it, somebody gets sick and the whole tour’s done. So, we’re all in it together.

“We’re looking forward to ‘The Bay Strikes Back’. It’s gonna be a kick-ass tour. Get your tickets, if you haven’t. They’re selling really good — some sold-out shows already. So we’re looking forward to it. It’s been a year and a half since we got to perform [last] — a little over a year and a half. So, here we come. We’ll see everybody real soon.”

“The Bay Strikes Back Tour” will kick off on October 6 at the Fremont Theater in San Luis Obispo, California and make stops in Austin, New York, and Detroit before concluding on November 27 at The Fox in Oakland.

Back in March 2020, Billy revealed that he had tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home to the San Francisco Bay Area following the completion of “The Bay Strikes Back” European tour with EXODUS and DEATH ANGEL. EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt also tested positive, as did DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll, who spent almost two weeks on a ventilator in an intensive care unit at a Northern California hospital.

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In a recent interview with Guitar Wishes, former MÖTLEY CRÜE frontman John Corabi, who joined the band in 1992 as the replacement for original singer Vince Neil, discussed some of the lessons he has learned from his three decades in the music business. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “When money comes to play, in between a relationship, when money becomes whatever, you really find out who your friends are. People, you can be great friends with ’em, but ‘it’s just business,’ is the line you hear all the time.

“I did a few things early on in my career with contracts and different things, thinking, ‘We’re bros, man. They’ll never screw me over,’ just assuming that everybody would look at it the way I look at it. People don’t. And that’s something that I had to learn. The other thing I had to learn was when I was in MÖTLEY, there was a lot of people — and Tommy [Lee, drums] and Nikki [Sixx, bass] told me in the very beginning that this was gonna happen. And I was, like, ‘Nah, nah, nah. Not my friends.’ [They told me], ‘You’re gonna find out people treat you differently because of the situation you’re in.’ And at first I didn’t think it would happen. And then I really kind of realized, ‘Oh, I’m still the same guy. Everybody else around me is changing.’ Everybody started calling me, ‘Hey, dude, can you lend me five grand?’ ‘Hey, dude, can you get a limo and get us tickets for the TESLA show?’ ‘Hey, dude, can you…?’ And then as soon as it was over, it was like crickets. But I had a few very tight little circle of friends that were with me before MÖTLEY, during MÖTLEY and after MÖTLEY. And then I went, ‘Ah, okay.’ So I would tell myself, ‘Listen, you’re gonna get this MÖTLEY gig. Everybody else is a clinger. Those little batch of friends that you’ve got there, those five or six people that aren’t ever gonna be afraid to tell you, ‘You’re an asshole…” Whatever.

“I think, really, that’s it,” he added. “I wouldn’t change anything. Everything happened the way it happened. And I actually have it tattooed here [on my chest]; it’s Italian. But I firmly believe even when shit goes wrong for you, regardless of whether you’re a musician, whether you’re a plumber — whatever — this phrase says, ‘Life is as it should be.’ Even when something bad’s happening, you have to look at it, make some adjustments, move forward and learn from it. And I think I have, with everything.”

With Corabi on vocals, MÖTLEY CRÜE released one critically acclaimed full-length CD, which ended up being a commercial failure in the wake of grunge despite a Top 10 placing on the album chart. When Neil returned to the fold in 1997, Corabi was left on his own and formed the band UNION with ex-KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick.

Corabi in 2016 said that he would avoid talking about MÖTLEY CRÜE in the future because he didn’t want his comments about Sixx to descend into a feud.

In an interview with Sweden Rock Magazine, Nikki said that writing the “Mötley Crüe” LP with Corabi was a prolonged and difficult experience. He went to call it “a very unfocused record” that was “painful for me, because John Corabi can’t write lyrics, and I had to do all that work.”

In February 2018, Corabi released a live album of his performance of MÖTLEY CRÜE’s entire 1994 self-titled album, recorded on October 27, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. “Live ’94: One Night In Nashville” documents the album in its entirety along with the bonus track “10,000 Miles”, which was originally released as a bonus track on the Japanese version of the “Quaternary” EP.

Self-described “extreme musick-devoted freak” Robert Williams has a song in his heart — a throat full of broken glass.
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