Month: August 2021

Chicago area artist Rebecca Clegg discusses her work on the unforgettable cover art for recent Hall of Fame inductee Instinct: Decay.
The post Hall of Fame Extra – Behind The ‘Instinct: Decay’ Artwork appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Vocalist Stu Block has announced his permanent return to his pre-ICED EARTH band INTO ETERNITY.

Block, who left INTO ETERNITY in 2011 and was replaced by Amanda Kiernan, broke the news of his official reunion with his former bandmates two days after he performed live with them at the Loud As Hell festival in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada (see video below).

Earlier today (Monday, August 2), Stu took to his social media to share the following message: “What an amazing time with @into_eternity_official at the @loudashellfestival !! I had such a killer time with my brothers Matt, Tim, Troy and Bryan and sister from another mister Amanda!!

“Soooooo I’m sure you are all speculating if I will be coming back to INTO ETERNITY permanently and the answer is…………YES!!! I will be coming back sharing lead vocal duties with the amazing Amanda Kiernan!

“The insane talent that is in this band needs to be showcased to the world again through new recordings and some touring.

“We will be working hard on new music and refining the live show to perfection for you to enjoy. We have LOTS of exciting things coming within the next few months! We can’t wait!!!”

Before joining INTO ETERNITY in 2005, Block began his musical career singing for various bands in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After two albums with INTO ETERNITY, Block joined ICED EARTH in 2011, with whom he recorded three LPs: “Dystopia” (2011), “Plagues Of Babylon” (2014) and “Incorruptible” (2017).

Block and ICED EARTH bassist Luke Appleton quit the band in the wake of leader Jon Schaffer’s involvement in the U.S. Capitol riot, with guitarist Jake Dreyer also believed to have departed.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stu Block.Official (@stu.block_official)

Pulbic service announcement from the kats and kittens at Into Eternity…
Loud as Hell Festival #slimbztv #LAH9 #talesfromthepit #jonashermedia

Posted by SlimBzTV on Sunday, August 1, 2021

Just a smidgen more please sir?!
Into Eternity Loud as Hell Festival #slimbztv #talesfromthepit #thescatteringofashes #ashermedia #untimelydemise #tourtales #BIGSPOON #lilspoon

Posted by SlimBzTV on Sunday, August 1, 2021

During a recent interview with Yahoo! Entertainment’s Lyndsey Parker, TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider was asked if he has any intention of ever going into politics. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Many, many people asked me [that same question]. I got a call from a guy who said, ‘Listen, I’m not asking. I’m telling. This influential person said, ‘I’m starting a Super PAC,'” he said, referencing the political committee that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives or legislation. “I said, ‘No. Thank you. I appreciate it.’ He said, ‘I’m not asking. I’m doing this.’ I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Why?’ I said, ”Cause I’ve seen the job. It’s terrible. These people are terrible people. They’re self-serving. They’ve got agendas. They’re not looking for the greater good.’ And the people who have actually gone in with genuine… Like Jimmy Carter, just a really decent human being, got destroyer. He got chewed up and spit out by Washington. There’s no place for a fair, honorable, decent, reasonable person. Nobody wants the voice of reason; they want the voice of insanity. And if I can tell you this, the loudest voices in the room are the extremes on the left and the right, and they are the smallest percentages.

“Most of us are somewhere in the middle,” Dee explained. “And these are the phrases that get used: ‘I’m sure it’ll work out’; ‘I trust things will be okay’; ‘It usually comes back to center.’ We’ve got all these sort of, like, ‘Things will be okay in the end.’ And as Dr. Phil says, ‘How’s that working out for ya?’

“The vast majority of people have been too willing to sit back and hope for the best while the extremes on the left and right are using that silence that we have to just try and control things. No. Push back, fight back, don’t shut up. Tell these idiots to shut up.”

Asked if he is feeling a little better about the state of the world in 2021 now that Donald Trump is no longer president, Snider said: “Well, not having a lunatic driving a bus is a great thing. But the fact of the matter is that lunatic is still in the bus; he’s just moved into the back seat. So he’s back there causing problems. You remember the bus, people. The troublemakers in the back? Yeah, they’re still in there.

“The biggest favor that Trump did… And it’s just… There’s what’s his name over there, Boris [Johnson] in England, with Brexit, in Brazil… They’re all over the world. There’s Trumps [all over the world]. They keep referring to it as ‘Australia’s Trump,’ ‘the U.K.’s Trump.’ Everybody’s got a Trump. But the favor they did us is that they got these awful people to come out of the shadows. ‘We thought we had a black president. Everything’s okay.’ No. It’s not. So now they’re out of the shadows, or if they slink back, now we know they’re there.

“So, no, I don’t think it’s better,” he added. “I think they’ve just been forced out of the forefront for a little bit, but don’t fool yourself people — they’re there. They’re going nowhere. They were hiding. They were biding their time. They were waiting. And when they finally got someone that spoke [to them], that they felt it was cool to come out and expose themselves, they did. So, just know full well they’re still there and you’ve just gotta stay vigilant.”

Snider found himself in the middle of controversy in 2016 when he asked Trump to stop using the 1984 TWISTED SISTER anthem “We’re Not Gonna Take It” in his campaign.

Dee, who got to know Trump personally after appearing more than once on “The Celebrity Apprentice”, had been an outspoken critic of America’s 45th president, tweeting incessantly against Trump’s administration and blasting Trump as “a commie-loving traitor” who is prostituting our democracy. He has also engaged in heated Twitter fights with Trump followers, some of whom had taken issue with his colorful delivery and unapologetic tone.

Last year, Snider criticized Trump over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak, saying that Trump’s response to COVID-19 had been “to politicize it and separate us more and make it about politics instead of about joining together and helping each other. This was an opportunity to really bring the country together over something really important, that rises above all the other B.S. in the world,” he said. “And he failed to do that, and we’re seeing the results.”

In eary September, Snider defended his “aggressive and intense” approach in dealing with “idiot Trump followers” on social media, saying that he was “trying to lead by example.”

“Feed on Fire” with Satanic rockers Phantom Fire.
The post Video Premiere: Phantom Fire – ‘Feed on Fire’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

QUIET RIOT is set to welcome Rudy Sarzo back into the band after an 18-year absence. Rudy was one of the original founding members of the legendary “Metal Health” lineup. He played bass on the “Metal Health” album, which sold over ten million copies and spawned the hits “Cum On Feel The Noize” and “Metal Health” and on the follow-up record “Condition Critical”.

Sarzo appeared in the most notable music videos in the MTV age and toured with the band until 1985 and again from 1997 to 2003. During his years out of the band, Sarzo was a member of OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE, DIO, BLUE ÖYSTER CULT, QUEENSRŸCHE and THE GUESS WHO. Rudy is looking forward to recording and touring with QUIET RIOT beginning in 2022.

With the move, longtime QUIET RIOT bassist Chuck Wright is graciously stepping aside to continue his recent solo efforts while heightening his role with his award-winning residency show “Ultimate Jam Night” at the legendary Whisky A Go-Go which all the members of QUIET RIOT fully support.

QUIET RIOT and their management would like to formally thank Chuck Wright for his many years of dedication and perseverance and, most importantly, his distinguished talent. Wright has served off and on with QUIET RIOT for nearly 40 years, appears on nine albums, and is known as the bassist for QUIET RIOT’s mega-hit “Metal Health” (Bang Your Head) and “Don’t Wanna Let You Go”. He was a contributing songwriter on 1986’s “QRIII” and appeared in the band’s video for “The Wild And The Young”, among others. Wright has been one of the band’s longest touring and recording members and will continue touring with the band through the end of 2021. Chuck is and will always be an invaluable member of the QUIET RIOT family.

Sarzo discussed his return to QUIET RIOT earlier today (Monday, August 2) during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I am returning home, going home to QUIET RIOT in the beginning of 2022, next year.” He also noted that “next year marks 50 years of my journey with QUIET RIOT, because that’s when I met and I started playing with Frankie Banali, another founding member of the ‘Metal Health’ version of QUIET RIOT. To me, that was a turning point [for me] as a musician.”

Regarding how his return to QUIET RIOT came about, Rudy said: “After Frankie told me in 2019 that he had pancreatic cancer, and then he started his fight, it was a daily fight. I mean, he would be taking multiple treatments to fight it, and he would be touring. And so it was really an exhausting thing. So we stopped kind of hanging out as much because, obviously, he was too tired. So we would text each other a lot, every day, and stay in touch.

“He let me know in April of 2019 [that he was diagnosed with cancer], and COVID happened in 2020,” Rudy continued. “That really made it impossible for me to be in his presence. It wasn’t until a couple of days before he passed away that I was able to go to his house. Regina [his wife] requested it, and I spent time with him. And then, the following day, when he was taken to the hospital, Regina made it possible for me to be with Frankie for his last hours. So, after Frankie passed away, I went over to Regina’s house, and we talked, and she expressed to me that Frankie wanted me to come back to the band, that he wanted to have a founding member there in the band. So, we talked about that.

“I was already traumatized by Frankie’s passing, so it was a decision that I had to take a lot of time to think about it — let the mourning period [pass],” Rudy added. “I had to do that. So, the time came when I was ready to accept the reality, that it’s our responsibility, of us left behind, to carry on with the legacy and celebrate it. So that’s when I decided. I said, ‘Okay, it’s time for me to come home.'”

Sarzo’s return to QUIET RIOT was first reported by Metal Sludge last Thursday (July 29).