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In a new interview with Kyle Meredith, former VAN HALEN frontman Sammy Hagar spoke about plans to organize a tribute show in honor of his longtime bandmate, VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen, who died last October. He said (see video below): “I have nothing to do with the [Eddie Van Halen] legacy. That’s their business — that’s Wolfie [Wolfgang Van Halen; Eddie’s son], Alex Van Halen [Eddie’s brother]; they’re family members. Whoever wants to call me up and say, ‘Here’s the date,’ I will be there. I don’t care where I am. I’ll cancel a [solo] show [if I need to]. [Laughs] [That’s] something VAN HALEN would never do. I always make that joke — canceling a show was [out of the question with] VAN HALEN. I went out sick without being able to sing, Eddie went out with a crutch, Alex went out with a fucking neck brace — we wouldn’t cancel shows. But I will cancel my show for a tribute to Eddie any day.”

Hagar acknowledged that an Eddie Van Halen tribute concert is unlikely to happen before the coronavirus pandemic has subsided. “We’ve gotta get back to work first — they’ve gotta allow us to get in the same place — because that’s not gonna be a social-distance event, let me tell you that right now,” he laughed.

Last November, Wolfgang told Entertainment Tonight that he and his family may eventually stage a tribute show in honor of his father, with proceeds going toward Eddie’s favorite charity, Mr. Holland’s Opus, which helps underprivileged students access musical instruments. Proceeds from the debut solo single from Wolfgang’s solo band MAMMOTH WVH, “Distance”, are also benefiting Mr. Holland’s Opus.

During the same chat, Wolfgang once again shot down a rumor that a new version of VAN HALEN could be assembled featuring him on guitar in place of his late father. In October, a rumor started to make the rounds via a Wolfgang Van Halen private group on Facebook that the VAN HALEN “camp” was discussing the possibility of the band carrying with a revamped lineup that would consist of Hagar on vocals, Anthony on bass, Alex Van Halen on drums and Wolfgang on guitar. Furthermore, it was suggested that Eddie Van Halen told his son and brother “I give you my blessing” with regard to the prospect of VAN HALEN continuing without him.

“No way. That’ll never happen,” Wolfgang told Entertainment Tonight. “I think a message to the VAN HALEN fans [would be that] some things just really suck. I don’t have a dad anymore and I have to figure out how to process that and deal with it. And, that’s the process that VAN HALEN fans need to go through and realize that you can’t have the band anymore without Eddie Van Halen. The music will live on forever, but you can’t have [the band] without him. Impossible.

“My dad would probably be really pissed off at me if I [tried to take his place,]” Wolfgang added. “He’d probably be, like, ‘What are you doing playing my stuff? Go do your stuff.’ He would’ve been really upset, like, ‘You have all this music you’re sitting on. Why wouldn’t you go forward with that?'”

Hagar replaced David Lee Roth in VAN HALEN in 1985 and recorded four studio albums with the band — “5150”, “OU812”, “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” and “Balance” — all of which topped the U.S. chart.

Sammy, Eddie, Alex and Michael Anthony last teamed up in 2004 for a U.S. summer tour. In exchange for taking part in the tour, Anthony reportedly had to agree to take a pay cut and sign away his rights to the band name and logo.

In early 2019, rumors were rampant that the classic-era lineup of VAN HALEN would reunite for the first time since 1984. It has since been revealed that a health setback involving Eddie was responsible for the tour not materializing.

Eddie died at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California.

The iconic VAN HALEN axeman passed away from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

Hagar and Anthony are currently members of SAMMY HAGAR & THE CIRCLE which released its massively popular “Lockdown Sessions” as an album collection titled “Lockdown 2020” on January 8.

ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante has reflected on the time when he and his bandmates were asked to co-star on an episode of the groundbreaking TV sitcom “Married With Children”, a show that happened to be a favorite of all the ANTHRAX members. The episode was titled “My Dinner With Anthrax”, and the band spent a week with the Bundy family at the iconic Sunset-Gower Studios in the heart of Hollywood, learning their lines, rehearsing and shooting the episode — and getting into a little hot water with the show’s producers when they took “Bud Bundy” (David Faustino) to see METALLICA.

On Tuesday (February 23), Benante took to his Instagram to share a couple of photos from the “Married With Children” set, and he wrote: “On this day in 90’something we met #thebundies – this was one of the hi-lights of my career . Spending a week with the cast and crew learning how to ‘hit your mark’ and of course deliver your lines.

“When I watch it back I have great memories of that time. Things were happening so fast, it was hard to grasp. On The last day we filmed the show, we actually did 2 . We thought the first one went great, the audience laughed a lot and we all #hit our marks . The writers and producers came down and decided to change some of our lines… OH SHIT! There was a different rhythm now but the new lines were funnier.

“We finished and went to the after show dinner. We all sat together with #edoneill at the head telling stories, it was so great. At one point #clinteastwood and #morganfreeman were sitting across from us and we were all freaking out. This is where it got crazy- Ed said to us ‘ hey guys, wanna go meet CLINT? He brought us to meet #dirtyharry himself and it was awesome. Many many drinks later we were shitfaced with Al Bundy. I don’t remember what happened after that… what a week”.

A synopsis of the “My Dinner With Anthrax” episode, which originally aired March 1992, reads as follows: “It’s Al and Peg’s 20th anniversary, and Peggy wants only one thing from Al… Meanwhile Kelly and Bud win the ‘My Dinner With Anthrax’ contest, which means a house party with the thrash-metal band, but there will be no party unless they get rid of mom and dad first. The answer: tricking them into taking a Florida ‘vacation’ that turns out to be a time-share sales scam where the salesman won’t leave them alone.” Each member of ANTHRAX had a couple of lines to say in the show and the band performed “In My World”.

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Southern California rockers THE OFFSPRING will release their tenth studio album, “Let The Bad Times Roll”, on April 16 via Concord Records. The follow-up to 2012’s “Days Go By” was once again produced by Bob Rock, who also worked on the band’s last two LPs.

Singer Bryan “Dexter” Holland, guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman, drummer Pete Parada and new bassist Todd Morse wrote and recorded “Let The Bad Times Roll” in the last few years at various locations, including the band’s studio in Huntington Beach, California.

The official lyric video for the “Let The Bad Times Roll” title track can be seen below.

“Let The Bad Times Roll” track listing:

01. This Is Not Utopia (2:38)
02. Let The Bad Times Roll (3:18)
03. Behind Your Walls (3:21)
04. Army Of One (3:11)
05. Breaking These Bones (2:46)
06. Coming For You (3:48 )
07. We Never Have Sex Anymore (3:30)
08. In The Hall Of The Mountain King (1:00)
09. The Opioid Diaries (3:01)
10. Hassan Chop (2:20)
11. Gone Away (3:16)
12. Lullaby (1:12)

In the summer of 2019, Noodles talked to Finland’s Kaaos TV about the musical direction of the new OFFSPRING material. He said: “It’s definitely an OFFSPRING record. There’s songs that you’re gonna hear that are gonna be easily recognizable as vintage-sounding OFFSPRING, for sure. One of the songs on there is gonna be ‘Coming For You’, which we released [in 2015], and that song is a good indication.”

Speaking about THE OFFSPRING’s working relationship with Rock, Noodles said: “We hit it off with him immediately. It’s been a real comfortable relationship. He makes us work and he makes us try harder to be as best as we can, but he does it in a way that’s cool — he’s not being a dick about it. He makes us feel like we can do it. Rather than making us feel like, ‘Oh, man, we’re not playing good enough,’ or whatever, or, ‘We’re not coming up with the best parts for this,’ he makes us feel like we’ve got more in us and we can bring more to the table. So it’s great working with Bob. We love that guy.”

THE OFFSPRING’s last single, the aforementioned “Coming For You”, dropped in January 2015.

In December, THE OFFSPRING released the official music video for its Rock-produced cover version of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”, a rock song originally sung by Darlene Love and included on the 1963 seasonal compilation album “A Christmas Gift For You” from Phil Spector.

Last April, THE OFFSPRING jumped on the “Tiger King” bandwagon by recording a cover version of THE CLINTON JOHNSON BAND’s “Here Kitty Kitty”, a song made popular by Joe Schreibvogel — better known as Joe Exotic, the “Tiger King” — through the Netflix docuseries.

Two years ago, bassist Gregory “Greg K.” Kriesel, who hasn’t performed with THE OFFSPRING since 2018, filed a federal lawsuit against Noodles and Dexter alleging trademark infringement and breach of partnership agreement over the rights to THE OFFSPRING name. In response, Holland and Wasserman filed a cross-complaint, denying basically everything Kriesel alleged and asking the court to appoint ‘three disinterested appraisers to appraise the fair value” of Kriesel’s shares of THE OFFSPRING.

Imagine how joyous it would be to stumble across MOONSPELL for the first time today. Although perennially and inexcusably underappreciated, the Portuguese band have spent the last 30 years steadily building the richest and most impressive of catalogues. From their earliest efforts as a flamboyant black metal band to the many detours and experiments that have typified their pre- and post-millennial exploits, pretty much everything that has emerged under the MOONSPELL banner has oozed sincerity and class. They may be the underground’s undisputed chief goths, and “Hermitage” will undoubtedly satisfy those who crave a certain level of darkness and pomp, but it’s about time this band were recognized for their singular and remorseless originality. Both the most overtly progressive record they have ever made and one of the most unapologetically accessible, MOONSPELL’s twelfth full-length once again screams its creators’ brilliance from a mist-enshrouded rooftop.

As humbly stated in the accompanying press release, “Hermitage” eschews the often theatrical and grandiose conceits of previous MOONSPELL albums in favor of a more personal and emotionally resonant approach. The metaphorical complexities of the songs themselves will doubtless unfold after repeated listens, but the most striking thing about “Hermitage” is its intrinsic warmth and charm, the spiky, orchestral explosiveness of 2018’s “1755” replaced here with an irresistible sense of humanity and grace. The result is deeply, densely melodic, with numerous wonderfully languorous passages where the ghost of PINK FLOYD shimmers through. But the album is also noticeably more intimate, with Frontman Fernando Ribeira delivering some of his most vulnerable and unfussy vocals yet. A strange but potent mixture of stripped-down intimacy and widescreen ambition, songs like electrifying opener “The Greater Good” and the bombastic “The Hermit Saints” are equal to anything in MOONSPELL’s illustrious canon.

Always a band with a broad progressive streak, MOONSPELL have never been more overtly prog than they are on “Hermitage”. Whether it’s the creepy organ tones that haunt the dark and gritty “Apoptheghmata” or the bluesy, Spaghetti Western sweep of “All or Nothing”, this is an album that bulges with moments of subtle inspiration and small but significant deviations from the expected. It still delivers the desired dose of grim splendor too, of course, and Riberia’s infernal roar remains one of the most distinctive and convincing in the business, but as they near the end of their third decade, MOONSPELL are still evolving. Tellingly, the most extraordinary song on this extraordinary album arrives toward the end: the immersive, doomy psych-rock of “Without Rule” glowers and grinds, with a riveting sense of dynamic ebb and flow, somehow sounding at once like everything and nothing all, while exuding ferocious, irresistible charisma. Yes, we are several light years away from “Wolfheart” and “Irreligious” here, but if you have had the privilege of following MOONSPELL from the start, “Hermitage” is audibly driven by that same, questing spirit. It’s yet another career peak from some bona fide contemporary greats.

The collaboration between Megadeth’s main man and the historic brand will span acoustic and electric guitars across Gibson, Epiphone, and Kramer.

Ron Keel has defended his band’s participation in last year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The event, which reportedly drew 462,000 biker enthusiasts to South Dakota in August, was described by some as a superspreading event, responsible for more than 260,000 cases of COVID-19 — or 19% of the 1.4 million new COVID-19 cases from August 2 to September 2, 2020, claimed researchers from San Diego State University and an independent research institute.

“I’ve never heard any viable information that it was what they claimed was gonna be a superspreader event,” Ron told Shaggy of the 94.9 & 104.5 The Pick radio station in Idaho Falls, Idaho earlier this week (hear audio below). “There were a quarter million people there. We did five headline shows, and it was business as usual, man. You’re not gonna shut those bikers down, and you’re not gonna keep ’em out. We’re all gonna gather and express our freedom, our right to rock, our freedom to ride, live, love, laugh and enjoy every day on this planet while we still can. And that’s what it’s all about.”

The KEEL frontman, who was a guest on the radio station to promote his upcoming concert at Golden Nugget in Pocatello, Idaho on Friday, February 26, added that he “didn’t see much difference” between last year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and previous Stugis events. “The audiences were a little slimmer, and I get that — people were maybe afraid to come out,” he said. “We still managed to film a live video — don’t misunderstand me — which has now been released on YouTube worldwide. You can find that on my YouTube page. And we filmed that video live at Sturgis in front of what you can obviously see is a really good, engaged crowd. So, I’m very thankful for the opportunity. And I’m not stopping. If there’s an opportunity to play, I’m gonna do that. I’m gonna get on the plane with my guitar and I’m gonna come to Idaho this weekend. I’m gonna rock Pocatello this Friday night.”

South Dakota officials, including Gov. Kristi Noem, called the research from San Diego State University’s Center for Health Economics & Policy Studies “fiction” and “grossly misleading.” State Epidemiologist Joshua Clayton, PhD, said at a news briefing that the report numbers are ”a far cry” from reality. He said that 124 South Dakota residents who had attended the rally were diagnosed with COVID.

Last November, Keel defended Donald Trump against accusations that the former president’s rhetoric was to blame for the divisiveness and unrest in the United States. The singer, who had previously tweeted in support of Trump’s policies, took to the social media platform to comment on the fact that there has been more discord between Republicans and Democrats in our time than there has been in generations. He wrote: “And of course, like everything else, this is @realDonaldTrump ‘s fault. #BS Elections don’t divide people. Beliefs don’t divide people. WEAKNESS divides people.”

This cat has claws! Stream “Benthic Storms,” the latest from Colorado’s Necropanther.
The post Track Premiere: Necropanther – ‘Benthic Storms’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

LAST IN LINE drummer Vinny Appice spoke to Metal From The Inside about the progress of the recording sessions for the band’s third album. The follow-up to 2019’s “II” is tentatively due next year via an as-yet-undetermined record label.

“We were able to get together a number of times in Las Vegas [prior to the pandemic],” Vinny said (see video below). “When DEF LEPPARD played in Las Vegas, Viv [LAST IN LINE and DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell] would have a couple of days off, so we were there. Our singer, Andrew Freeman, he lives there. Now Phil [Soussan] lives there, the bassist. So two of them are there. So we were able to hook up in Vegas, hang out, and then when Viv finished the gigs, we were able to write and rehearse. And then, at the beginning of [last] year, we went to the studio here in L.A. and recorded six songs. So we’ve still got half of it to do. We haven’t done a file exchange, really, ’cause we don’t work that way. We’re trying to finish up what we’ve got, and then we’ll continue.”

According to Appice, former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson, who produced both “II” and 2016’s “Heavy Crown”, is not involved with the upcoming LAST IN LINE album. “We made a change,” he said. “Actually, the guy who mixed the last record, Chris Collier — he’s great; he’s working with KORN — he recorded this record. And we’re kind of producing it ourselves, between all of us.

“Jeff is great — Jeff’s a great producer, and [he has] great ideas and stuff, but we just felt that we could probably do what we wanna do now that we’re a band, we’ve been on the road, and we know what we wanna hear,” he explained. “But it’s coming out great. The stuff sounds fantastic.

“And yeah, I’ve been through a lot with Jeff Pilson. I’ve known him for years. He’s a great guy. He’s like my brother.”

Earlier this month, Soussan told the “Pat’s Soundbytes Unplugged” podcast LAST IN LINE was working on “a very, very special song that we’re gonna be putting out fairly soon. I can’t tell you any more than that, but it is something in the interim between us coming out with a new album, or releasing a new album, and now,” he said. “So we’ll do this as a video single.”

As for the musical direction of the new LAST IN LINE material, Phil said: “The songs are another progression from the last album — the difference between ‘Heavy Crown’ and ‘II’, and now ‘II’ and whatever this next album is gonna be called; we don’t know yet, by the way. But it’s definitely evolved even more; it’s gone into even more of an evolution, but we are always trying to keep the characteristics of LAST IN LINE there. I mean, you can’t shake those things — you can’t shake Vinny’s drumming, you can’t shake Vivian’s playing. And I’d like to say the same thing about myself, and, of course, Andrew.”

Some of the early recording sessions for LAST IN LINE’s third album took place in January 2020 at Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood, California.

Formed in 2012 by Appice, Campbell and bassist Jimmy Bain — Ronnie James Dio’s co-conspirators and co-writers on the “Holy Diver”, “Last In Line” and “Sacred Heart” albums — LAST IN LINE’s initial intent was to celebrate Ronnie James Dio’s early work by reuniting the members of the original DIO lineup. After playing shows that featured a setlist composed exclusively of material from the first three DIO albums, the band decided to move forward and create new music in a similar vein.

LAST IN LINE’s debut album, “Heavy Crown”, was released in February 2016, landing at No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. Initially, the release had been preceded by tragedy when Bain unexpectedly passed away at the age of 68 on January 23, 2016. LAST IN LINE, honoring what they knew would be Bain’s wish to keep the band moving, brought in Soussan and committed to sustained touring in support of the album before beginning work on the follow-up release, the aforementioned “II”.

Sean Dowdell, the drummer for Chester Bennington’s pre-LINKIN PARK band GREY DAZE, has once again opened up about his late friend’s mental state before his tragic death nearly four years ago. The singer’s passing was ruled a suicide soon after his body was found in July 2017 at his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California. Bennington had been candid about mental-health battles in numerous interviews over the years, saying he grappled with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and substance abuse.

Asked in a new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio if he was surprised that Chester ended his life, Dowdell said (hear audio below): “Over the years, he did struggle in several different areas. But in the weeks and months leading up to his life-ending choice, I guess, is the best way I can put that, I did not sense anything. I talked to him two nights before he passed. He was on top of the world. He was excited about starting rehearsals. He was excited about a lot of things. We were working on a new business location together. I didn’t sense anything. Now, eight or nine months before that, my wife sensed something in him and said, ‘Chester’s not right. Something’s off.’ And I said, ‘No, no, no. He’s just trying to go for a new look or whatever.’ And she said, ‘No. I can see something in his eyes.’ And she literally said that to me. And I just blew it off, like, ‘No. I don’t think so.’ And then, of course, what happened, happened. And it’s easy to look back and go, ‘Oh, yeah. She saw it.’ But you never truly know what’s happening in someone’s mind.”

He continued: “Had Chester been thinking rationally, I don’t think he would have done what he did at all. I just think that that’s what depression does — it removes the rational thought process from the moment that you take that choice. And sometimes there’s somebody there to help talk you out of it or to guide you in a different way or to distract you away from it, but the way this happened, it didn’t. There was nobody else there. And when that hit him at that specific moment, there was nobody else for him to lean on at the time, and that’s the most unfortunate thing, I think.”

GREY DAZE’s “Amends” album was released in June 2020. The LP contains updated versions of older songs in the group’s catalog featuring newly recorded instrumentals accompanying the late Bennington’s original vocal takes.

Bennington had been open with the press and public about his struggles with drugs and alcohol, which landed him in rehab twice around 2006.

Bennington’s friends told Rolling Stone that he fell off the wagon for three days in August 2016 and drank until he blacked out, adding that he had been consuming alcohol again as recently as October 2016. Bennington’s longtime friend Ryan Shuck, who played with the singer in DEAD BY SUNRISE, thought Bennington may have had “a couple of drinks” before hanging himself on July 20, 2017.

Investigators found no illegal drugs or prescription drugs while searching Bennington’s home following his passing, although a partially consumed bottle of alcohol was found in the bedroom where the 41-year-old singer’s body was discovered.

LINKIN PARK paid tribute to Bennington in October 2017 with an emotional three-hour show that featured numerous guests joining the band onstage in Los Angeles.

LINKIN PARK released a concert album titled “One More Light Live” in December 2017.