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CANDLEBOX will release its seventh album, “Wolves”, on September 17 via Pavement Entertainment. It is the follow-up to 2016’s “Disappearing In Airports”, which had a fresh modernity, a vibe that is amplified and broadened on “Wolves”. Lead singer Kevin Martin says: “It comes from where we are as humans right now, and what we’ve become. Yes, there’s beauty in these wolves, but there’s the pack mentality, and that lone wolf mentality on the other side.”

The disc’s first single, “My Weakness”, can be streamed below. Martin says: “The song is kind of guttural and like ‘The Summer Of ’69’ and Bruce Springsteen tunes; it’s one of those love songs where you can feel the band just wants to take off with you the whole time.”

“Wolves” is rife with brutal lyrical honesty and songs that run the gamut from dirty rock stompers to timeless, radio-ready pop-rock tunes. The album was produced by Dean Dichoso in Los Angeles’s legendary Henson Studios.

In August of 2020, CANDLEBOX released the energized song “Let Me Down Easy”, an aggro, blues-based rocker with a booming bass and edgy guitar riffing. The song was co-written with old Seattle pal Peter Cornell, Chris Cornell’s older brother, and is also available on “Wolves”.

“Wolves” track listing:

01. All Down Hill From Here
02. Let Me Down Easy
03. Riptide
04. Sunshine
05. My Weakness
06. We
07. Nothing Left To Lose
08. Lost Angeline
09. Trip
10. Don’t Count Me Out
11. Criminals

“Disappearing In Airports” delivered the chart-topping single “Vexatious”, and found the band touring for over two years in support of the release.

“You And Me”, the title track of the debut solo album from HEART’s Nancy Wilson, can be streamed below. Due on May 7 via Carry On Music, the LP was recorded primarily in Wilson’s California home studio, working with band members and special guests remotely.

“Being off the road last year from touring with HEART, and at home with my good guitars and amps out, I felt like I was once again able to reconnect with my pre-HEART self, my college-girl self, creating poetic, intimate and romantic songs, which pretty much is what I first brought in to HEART,” she said.

Most of the tracks are originals, but Wilson decided to include a handful of covers by a few of her favorites, including a female perspective of PEARL JAM’s “Daughter”, a stirring turn of SIMON & GARFUNKEL’s “The Boxer” featuring Sammy Hagar, and an ethereal cover of THE CRANBERRIES’ “Dreams”, featuring Liv Warfield (Prince) from Nancy’s previous band ROADCASE ROYALE. The first single from the album was Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising”, which dropped last fall. “During this horrific time in the world, with all this enduring loss, it seemed like the right time for an aspirational song about hope and perseverance,” Wilson says.

The other eight tracks are originals, mostly acoustic ballads, but there are also some rousing rockers like “Party At The Angel Ballroom” which features a superstar backing band, including Duff McKagan of GUNS N’ ROSES and Taylor Hawkins of the FOO FIGHTERS. The album ends with a song that captures the full spectrum of loss, love and redemption in one instrumental coda. Titled “4 Edward”, it is Nancy’s tribute to Eddie Van Halen, whose 2020 loss still looms large over music. Nancy came to know Eddie when HEART toured with VAN HALEN, and she once asked him why he didn’t play acoustic. “I don’t have one,” he told her, which she immediately rectified. Eddie took the guitar she gave him and wrote a song on it that stole Nancy’s heart. After his death last year, Nancy knew she had to return the favor.

The title track “You And Me”, as with several of the songs on the album, reunites Wilson with longtime collaborator Sue Ennis, who co-wrote many of HEART’s classics with Nancy and sister Ann.

“I’ve known Sue since I was 12,” Nancy says. “Back then she was a high school friend of Ann’s. We’ve always worked well together.”

With her band HEART, Nancy Wilson has recorded 16 albums, sold over 35 million albums worldwide and has four Grammy nominations. She had previously released one other album with just her name on it, “Live At McCabe’s Guitar Shop”, which captured her playing a set of covers and new songs in 1999. But considers this her first true solo album, a positive creative move amid a surreal year of loss; life during lock down.

“I don’t know why it took me so long to do this,” she laughs. “Maybe I was stuck in traffic, maybe I was stuck in the HEART vortex of it all.” But in a year with “no traffic,” Wilson finally found a place for the music she’s been writing in her head for decades.

“You And Me” track listing:

01. You And Me
02. The Rising
03. I’ll Find You
04. Daughter
05. Party At The Angel Ballroom (feat. Duff McKagan & Taylor Hawkins)
06. The Boxer (feat. Sammy Hagar)
07. Walk Away
08. The Inbetween
09. Dreams (feat. Liv Warfield)
10. The Dragon
11. We Meet Again
12. 4 Edward

Former MACHINE HEAD and current VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel has teamed up with singer Russell Allen (SYMPHONY X, ADRENALINE MOB, TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA), drummer Stix Zadinia (STEEL PANTHER) and bassist David Ellefson (MEGADETH) to record a “quarantine” cover version of the DOKKEN song “Tooth And Nail” as part of Phil’s series “Collab-A-Jam”.

Phil uploaded the video to his YouTube channel, writing in an accompanying message: “Me and Stix has been wanting to jam on something for awhile and finally had the opportunity on one of my favorite tunes from this era.

“STEEL PANTHER took over the [MACHINE HEAD] practice gear in Germany after our sets at the Rock Am Park Festival in 2012 and were slaying a bunch of DOKKEN covers. This had to be one we did.

“I had realized that Dave hadn’t guested on a [‘Collab-A-Jam’] yet so he was a no-brainer. Dave and I have the same mind-set as things go and he’s one of my favorites in the business. Always quick with the tracks and loves to get things done.

“Russell was the final piece and came through big. Such a huge talent and gave the song all the sprinkles.

“Paul Fig has been such a rad connection through all of this and beefed up our mix while Wayne Marsala is always on point with the vid edits.

“Thanks to George, Don, Mick and Jeff for creating such a ROKKEN tune and to all who had a part in bringing this cover to life.”

In a brand new interview with Pierre Gutierrez, former ANTHRAX and current ARMORED SAINT frontman John Bush was once again asked whether he is still open to the idea of embarking on a special tour during which he would perform material from his time as the singer of ANTHRAX. He responded (see video below): “Well, it was an idea that never really came to fruition, for various reasons. Probably it had something to do with me and my own slight laziness, because I think I would have to be the guy that would have to, obviously, carry it, because it would be my thing, and maybe I was just not really ready to give it the time at that time.

“It’s something that I would like to do at one point, because I do love those records… And I have good relationships right now with the ANTHRAX camp — with the bandmembers and also Mike Monterulo, the manager,” he continued. “So, who knows? We’ll see. It’s certainly in my mind to do something, and I would like to play some of those songs live at some point, because there are some great tunes. I was able to do it with METAL ALLEGIANCE at a couple of shows — we played ‘Only’ and ‘Room For One More’ — and that was really fun, and the crowd really seemed to dig it. But it’s there in my mind to do something. I just don’t know what yet. I’m kind of busy with this other thing, ARMORED SAINT, and other aspects of life. So it’s just trying to fit it in somehow, someway.”

Bush also once again said he wanted former ANTHRAX guitarist Paul Crook to be involved in the hypothetical ANTHRAX tour featuring material from his era of the band. “I talked to Paul about it,” he said. “Paul and I text on occasion. I really love Paul as a person — he’s just a great human being. He’s just a good guy; he’s one of the nicest guys there is. And a great player, great musician, of course, needless to say. And he was there. That’s one of the reasons I always talk about Paul, is that he was there during ‘Stomp [442]’ and some of ‘Volume 8’, because he toured with us… I think he would be open to it, certainly as long as time permits. He’s kind of busy doing the Meat [Loaf] thing, but I think he would love to do that. I think a lot of those songs are special to him because he performed them live. And like I said, it would just be fun. I’m sure it would be just a million laughs, because we would always goof around. I spent a lot of time on the road with Paul, and a lot of that was consumed by just cracking up about whatever, so we had a lot of fun.

“So, we’ll see,” he added. “These are ideas, and we’ll see if any of these things can actually happen. I certainly don’t wanna go out and do, like, 50 dates or anything like that. It would be more special if it was just selected shows. I think that would make it more fun and special.”

Last September, Bush told Canada’s The Metal Voice that he first talked to his booking agent about the ANTHRAX tour idea “several years ago.” He said: “We talked about it, and I think he sniffed around for some feelers to see what people would think. And I don’t think we got the response that we really wanted to. It wasn’t like we were looking for millions of dollars or anything, but we wanted to make it worthwhile to do it, and do the proper shows. It’s not like something I wanna go out and do six months of touring with. It’d be fun to do some sporadic shows. I’d have to put a band together to do it. I’m probably a little lazy about that, quite honestly. But that’s what would be involved in doing it. And I don’t think we were pleased enough with the response that we tried to push it ahead and make it happen.”

Bush went on to say that he was “caught by surprise” by ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian’s recent comment that was not opposed to taking part in a special concert featuring most of the singers that have fronted the band over the course of its nearly four-decade existence. “I was, like, ‘Wow. Okay.’ And I thought that’s a great idea. That would be really cool,” Bush said. “I think that would be an amazing thing for the fanbase. But what I keep saying is that Joey Belladonna is the singer of ANTHRAX, and Joey should be the singer of ANTHRAX, as far as I’m concerned. And if this happens, it needs to have his approval, really, quite honestly. Because I wouldn’t want him to feel like, ‘Well, this is not my idea, and I don’t wanna do this,’ because he is the singer who’d be sharing the stage [with the rest of us], quite honestly. So I think it would be something that Joey would have to give endorsement to, for that to happen, if that’s an idea. And again, I think it would be a fun thing to do a couple of handful of shows, sporadic stuff.”

ANTHRAX has had a number of vocalists — including Bush, Belladonna, Neil Turbin and Dan Nelson — over the last 39 years, with Ian and drummer Charlie Benante remaining the sole bandmembers who have appeared on every one of the group’s studio albums.

Turbin sang on ANTHRAX’s debut LP, 1984’s “Fistful Of Metal”, before getting booted and being replaced by Belladonna. Belladonna performed on four ANTHRAX albums, including the fan favorite “Among The Living” (1987) before he himself was fired over creative and stylistic differences. Bush fronted ANTHRAX between 1992 and 2005 but was sidelined when the band reunited with Belladonna for a 20th-anniversary tour. When that collapsed, and relationships disintegrated with next frontman Nelson, Bush returned for a time before Belladonna took the job back in 2010.

Former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate will release the second album from his SWEET OBLIVION project, “Relentless”, on April 9 via Frontiers Music Srl. The official music video for the disc’s second single, “Another Change”, can be seen below.

The self-titled SWEET OBLIVION debut album caused quite a stir in the international hard rock and metal scene since it brought Tate back to a musical landscape akin to the sound of the stone cold classic metal albums he released with QUEENSRŸCHE during the 1980s. But what made the album work so well was that instead of being a simple throwback, other different musical influences were thrown into the mix, allowing fans to hear Tate in a simultaneously familiar and new musical setting.

While the production and main songwriting on the previous record were handled by Simone Mularoni of DGM, this time the production was instead handled by his fellow Italian metal maestro Aldo Lonobile (SECRET SPHERE, TIMO TOLKKI’S AVALON, ARCHON ANGEL).

Not only does Aldo produce and handle the songwriting, he is also featured on guitar. Other musicians appearing on the album include Michele Sanna on drums, Luigi Andreone on bass and Antonio Agate on keyboards.

This time around, Tate was more involved in the songwriting and asked Aldo to draft a very special song for him, which he would ultimately sing in Italian. The song also features guitars from Walter Cianciusi and Dario Parente, who are now also in the OPERATION: MINDCRIME live band.

Musically, this album showcases the great songwriting and performing talents of Lonobile and his cast of musicians and also marks a very welcomed return for Tate to a style that he made famous along with his former band.

“Relentless” track listing:

01. Once Again One Sin
02. Strong Pressure
03. Let It Be
04. Another Change
05. Wake Up Call
06. Remember Me
07. Anybody Out There
08. Aria
09. I’ll Be the One
10. Fly Angel Fly

“Relentless” recording lineup:

Geoff Tate – Vocals
Aldo Lonobile – Guitars
Luigi Andreone – Bass
Antonio Agate – Keys
Michele Sanna – Drums

Last month, Tate announced around a dozen U.S. dates in late summer and fall as part of a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE’s “Empire” and “Rage For Order” albums.

For more information, including ticket links and links for meet-and-greet passes for purchase to meet Geoff and his band after the live shows, visit www.geofftate.com.

Early last year, Tate was forced to postone a number of his tour dates due to the coronavirus pandemic that is spreading across the globe.

Tate spent the first two months of 2020 performing the QUEENSRŸCHE albums “Rage For Order” and “Empire” in their entirety on the “Empire 30th Anniversary Tour”, which kicked off in January in Norway. Prior to that, Geoff celebrated the 30th anniversary of QUEENSRŸCHE’s “Operation: Mindcrime” album on European and U.S. tours.

Tate’s post-QUEENSRŸCHE band OPERATION: MINDCRIME released three albums over three years as part of a trilogy: “The Key” (September 2015), “Resurrection” (September 2016) and “The New Reality” (December 2017).

Decibel Books has announced the U.S. release of “Rotting Ways To Misery: The History Of Finnish Death Metal”. The definitive guide to the magical and morbid world of Finnish death metal, exploring the extreme metal and thrash scenes of late ’80s, the short-lived but explosive scene of the early ’90s and the eventual devastating resurgence of death metal within the country.

Written by Markus Makkonen (SADISTIK FOREST, NERVE SAW, HOODED MENACE) and Kim Strömsholm (FESTERDAY, …AND OCEANS, HAVOC UNIT), it is packed full of unseen photos and exclusive interviews with multiple members of legendary bands such as:

* AMORPHIS
* SENTENCED
* PHLEGETHON
* XYSMA
* THERGOTHON
* FUNEBRE
* DEMILICH
* DEMIGOD
* PURTENANCE
* MORDICUS
* DISGRACE
* NECROPSY
* ROTTEN SOUND
* ABHORRENCE
* NATIONAL NAPALM SYNDICATE
* FESTERDAY
* FAFF BEY
* MENGELE
* MAPLE CROSS
* A.R.G.
* PUTRID
* CONVULSE
* CARTILAGE
* INFERIA
* COFFIN
* MYTHOS
* LUBRICANT

The book also features contributions from outside of the scene from peers and admirers of Finnish death metal, including members of AUTOPSY, AT THE GATES, MISERY INDEX, THE HAUNTED, BENEDICTION, ASPHYX, ENTRAILS, BLACK CRUCIFIXION, TEITANBLOOD, UNCOFFINED, ANATOMIA and many, many more.

This essential reading on Finland’s long overlooked impact on the death metal scene is strictly limited to 1,000 copies and will never be reprinted.

Pre-orders are available now and are expected to ship in late April.

Former ENTOMBED and current ENTOMBED A.D. singer Lars-Göran Petrov passed away on Sunday, March 7 after a battle with bile duct cancer. He was 49 years old.

In a statement, his ENTOMBED A.D. bandmates wrote: “We are devastated to announce that our beloved friend Lars-Göran Petrov has left us. Our brother, leader, vocalist, our Chief Rebel Angel went on another ride last night. It’s with the deepest sadness that we have to announce that Lars-Göran Petrov has left us. He was (is!!!) an incredible friend, and a person that has touched so many people. He has changed so many lives with his voice, his music, his character and his unique personality.

“LG’s smile is something that we will carry forever in our hearts. When asked in an interview what he would like to have written on his grave and what about his legacy, he said: ‘I will never die, it will never die’. And you didn’t. You will live forever in our hearts.”

Last August, Petrov told Metal Hammer about how he found out about his cancer: “A couple of months ago. I felt a lump in my solar plexus. And I was, like, ‘Okay, I’ll ignore it.’ But then it started to hurt, so I went to the doctor, and they X-rayed it quickly and said, ‘You have to go to the specialist.’ That was weird. You can’t imagine what it feels like. Your whole body goes warm. It’s, like, ‘Fucking hell.'”

Although Petrov revealed his cancer was “incurable,” he said that the doctors were “hoping” they will be able to treat it. “I will find out when I meet my doctor, who is the best doctor when it comes to this particular cancer,” he explained. “Being young, the doctor said there’s hopefully a way to control it so it doesn’t spread, or maybe even make it smaller.”

AMON AMARTH vocalist Johan Hegg offered his condolences via Twitter, writing: “The word legend is to small to describe LG and what he meant for me as a friend and inspiration. Not only was he one of the best and original voices in metal, but the most kind, humble, funny and genuine person one could ever hope to meet. I will miss you my friend! R.I.P”

ORANGE GOBLIN said: “We are all very saddened to hear of the tragic passing of LG Petrov of ENTOMBED / ENTOMBED AD. We had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with LG quite a few times over the years and he was always funny, caring and a great person to be around. His music and his legacy will live on forever and our thoughts go out to his bandmates, his family and friends at this terrible time. R.I.P LG, the Chief Rebel Angel.”

ENTOMBED A.D. was formed in 2014 when Petrov and other members of ENTOMBED decided to change the band’s name in order to avoid a legal battle with ENTOMBED guitarist Alex Hellid who didn’t want his former bandmates to use the ENTOMBED moniker.

ENTOMBED A.D.’s latest album, “Bowels Of Earth”, was released in August 2019 via Century Media.

⁣We are devastated to announce that our beloved friend Lars-Göran Petrov has left us.⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣
Our brother, leader,…

Posted by Entombed A.D. on Monday, March 8, 2021

Gary Holt says that he doesn’t know if there will ever be a SLAYER reunion.

The EXODUS leader, who spent almost nine years touring with SLAYER, discussed the possibility of a SLAYER comeback while taking part in this weekend’s Headbangers Con.

Asked by Rocking With Jam Man if SLAYER would consider returning for a special show or tour, Holt said (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “That’s a question I couldn’t answer you, whether SLAYER would ever get back together. Those are questions that are above my pay scale, I guess you’d say.

“Look, if the powers that be ever — like, in a year or something — said, ‘Hey, you know what? We feel like playing some shows,’ I’m there to do it,” Holt added. “But those aren’t decisions for me to make, or even me to really speculate on. As far as my knowledge, the band is over, and the final show was November 30th, 2019. And I’m full speed ahead with EXODUS now.”

Holt began filling in for SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman at live shows in 2011, and became the band’s full-time co-guitarist as of 2013, while remaining a member of EXODUS. Holt played on SLAYER’s final album, “Repentless”, which came out in 2015.

Last August, Ayesha King, the wife of SLAYER guitarist Kerry King, said that there will never be a SLAYER reunion. She shot down the possibility of her husband and Tom Araya sharing the stage ever again under the SLAYER banner while responding to a fan on Instagram.

After Ayesha shared three photos of Kerry holding their cat in slideshow-type Instagram post, a fan wrote: “No Tom, No SLAYER Kerry. Stop thinking SLAYER without @tomarayaofficial”. Ayesha then replied: “don’t worry, they’ll never be SLAYER again! You can rest easy”.

That same month, SLAYER drummer Paul Bostaph confimed that he is involved in a brand new project headed up by Kerry King. The duo spent much of last year working on music with the hopes of recording it properly once the coronavirus pandemic has subsided.

Bostaph told Australia’s Riff Crew that the new band will “sound like SLAYER without it being SLAYER — but not intentionally so. I mean, Kerry’s been writing songs in SLAYER his entire career, and he has a style,” he explained. “And that style, as a songwriter, you just don’t change your style because your band is done… So, all I can say is if you like heavy music and you like SLAYER, you’ll like this.”

Just a few days earlier, Kerry told Dean Guitars that he had plenty of musical ideas for his upcoming project. “I’ve been very, very lucky with riffs in 2020,” he said. “Maybe because I can’t go anywhere — I don’t know — but riffs have certainly not been a problem. And looking forward into the future, what that means for me is I’m gonna be able to cherrypick the best stuff. And it’s good stuff. I’ve got more than two records’ worth of music, but to be able to go through that and cherrypick the best 11 or 12 [songs]… That first record should be smoking.”

When SLAYER first announced that it was embarking on its final tour back in January 2018, Ayesha assured fans that they would “always get music” from her husband.

King has said in previous interviews that his post-SLAYER musical efforts would not be much different from the sound fans have grown accustomed to hearing from him.

“If someone quit, I’m not going to go around with a made-up SLAYER,” he told AZCentral.com back in 2010. “But my next band would sound like SLAYER, that’s all I know.”

Proud to have @garyholt_official back by popular demand because he sold out so quickly last time.

Posted by Headbangers Con on Saturday, December 26, 2020

Actor Tanner Buchanan, who portrays Johnny Lawrence’s son Robby Keene on the acclaimed Netflix series “Cobra Kai”, has revealed that he was once a member of a progressive death metal band called ACIDOSIS.

Speaking to At Large magazine, he said that it was a bandmate’s choice to name the group after a condition in which there is too much acid in the body fluids.

“My friend in the band says, I have a good name: ACIDOSIS,” he recalled. “So the band was ACIDOSIS. We played a lot of GOJIRA covers, which I’m super excited about, because ‘Cobra Kai’ posted the show playlists on Instagram. Now my all-time favorite band is PANTERA. But my second all-time is GOJIRA, a French-prog metal band. They ended up following me on Instagram and I had a freak-out moment. I had been listening to them since I was 12. We knew all their songs. Played all their songs. And they followed me on Instagram. I had this out-of-body experience, like, ‘GOJIRA, they know who I am. They know who I am!’ This is my childhood right here.”

Tanner went on to say that he gets “giddy” about certain musicians that he admires. “I just want to be Dave Grohl’s best friend because he’s such an awesome guy,” he said. “Same thing with Corey Taylor [of] SLIPKNOT. He’s another guy I would just super freak out about if I ever got to meet…. Him going from STONE SOUR to then SLIPKNOT, it was definitely a change in pace. A band of four or five to a band of, what, nine or ten? And they’re all wearing masks. You’re like, what is going on? But I do enjoy the music. I just like Corey Taylor a lot. Corey Taylor’s my guy.”

Buchanan previously discussed his love of metal in a 2019 interview with Cryptic Rock. At the time, he said: “I’m actually an extreme metalhead. I play guitar and used to be in a progressive death metal band. Some of the bands I like would be MASTODON, GOJIRA, DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, BLOODBATH, OPETH, etc. My favorite metal band, and they are not necessarily progressive death metal, but they are what got me into metal, is PANTERA. That is the metal side of me.”

The 22-year-old Lima, Ohio native started out as a tap dancer before going into acting.

Tanner is set to star in a couple of films, including “The Hyperions”, in which he will play Apollo. He will also be in “Painted Beauty”. Both movies are in post-production.