RICHIE FAULKNER Reveals The Best Piece Of Advice He Ever Got From ROB HALFORD

On a recent episode of the “Talk Louder” podcast, hosted by veteran music journalist “Metal Dave” Glessner and lifelong hard rock/metal vocalist Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS), JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner was asked to name the best piece of advice he ever got from PRIEST singer Rob Halfo…

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PHIL DEMMEL Joins NITA STRAUSS For Cover Of PANTERA’s ‘Cowboys From Hell’ At Sacramento Stop Of ‘Summer Storm’ Tour

Former MACHINE HEAD and current VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel joined Nita Strauss on stage during her July 5 concert at Goldfield Trading Post in Sacramento, California to perform a cover of PANTERA’s “Cowboys From Hell”. Video of his appearance can be seen below (courtesy of the Rholedz YouT…

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SKID ROW On The Road With KISS In Europe: Second Part Of Behind-The-Scenes Video Recap

SKID ROW singer Erik Grönwall has shared the second part of a behind-the-scenes video recap of the band’s just-completed European tour dates as the support act for KISS. Check out the 10-minute clip below.
This past March, SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo spoke to Meltdo…

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Watch VIXEN Perform In Big Flats, New York

The DarthNimmer YouTube channel has uploaded video of VIXEN’s July 8 concert at the Tag’s Summer Stage in Big Flats, New York. Check out the clips below.
In a recent interview with the Pat’s Soundbytes Unplugged podcast, VIXEN bassist Julia Lage spoke about the status of new music from the band…

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Adventures in Sand-Casting Stompbox Enclosures

I’ll never forget this comment on my Instagram video of me making a sand-casting aluminum enclosure on one of my pedals: “Dude are you serious? Holding melted aluminum more than 1000 degrees Fahrenheit and only wear short pants and flip flop? if it blown you die.” Well, at Sehat Effectors, we make our own enclosures, but there’s another builder who makes sand-casting enclosures, G.S. Wyllie, who inspires me. The first time I saw Wyllie’s Moonrock Fuzz pedal online, I said to myself, “I have to make pedals as cool as that.” For years, I’d always thought about interesting and distinctive enclosure designs to create on my own, but always ended up with the question, “How?” One day, out of the blue, the universe answered me, guiding me to the right person. I was introduced to Mr. Yanto, a skilled traditional blacksmith in my hometown of Yogyakarta.Mr. Yanto and I had been friends for a few years after having met at a flea market where I was, and still am, a customer of his. (Now, he’s one of my suppliers for my Telepunk Fuzz pedal enclosure.) At his shop, he makes and sells aluminum signs for coffee shops and restaurants. At one point, he told me he was making them at his workshop. Instantly, I thought to myself, “Eureka!” I showed him a picture of my Fuzz Face pedal and asked, “Can you make something like this?” He replied, “Kecil!” (“Kecil” means “small” in Indonesian but is often used to say something is easy to do, like the expression “piece of cake” in American English.)The next day, I visited Mr. Yanto’s workshop, and I was completely astonished and speechless. The building had red brick walls and a bamboo roof. There were several giant furnaces, which made the room extremely hot. I couldn’t believe how someone could live there—it felt like a funhouse tour in Hell. That said … I think being a blacksmith is one of the coolest jobs in our solar system, and throughout the history of human civilization.“I think being a blacksmith is one of the coolest jobs in our solar system, and throughout the history of human civilization.”I asked Mr. Yanto to show me the process of making an object using the sand-casting method. Unfortunately, I discovered that I had barely approached the beginning of the process, and that creating my dream enclosure was not as easy as pouring molten metal into a sand hole. To create a custom shape, a base pattern or master form is needed—which is then placed in a wooden frame filled with sand—to achieve the desired pattern. After compacting the sand, holes are made for the molten aluminum that will be cast. But, at that time, I only had imaginary designs in my head. In the end, my first visit to Mr. Yanto’s workshop was nothing more than a tourist experience.However, I didn’t want the designs in my head to remain imaginary forever. So, on my next visit, I prepared various objects that had the potential to be modified into stompbox enclosures. I collected these items from flea markets: They ranged from various sewing machine pedals to video game consoles to podium microphones to aquarium water pumps. Fortunately, Mr. Yanto was willing to assist me in modifying these objects to be repurposed as stompbox enclosures, and even taught me how to add ornaments as part of the enclosure artwork. Yet most of the modified objects turned out to be unreliable for use in this context. Maybe my enthusiasm was too overwhelming, but ultimately, all this effort was not just about wanting to look cool. I simply wanted to condense my own thoughts and pour them into various creations in the real world.Moreover, as a pedal builder who’s fortunate enough to live in the era of globalization and free markets, I wanted to involve people close to me who are local workers. I wanted to invite them to cross the Indian and Pacific Oceans, to every corner of this planet, with our own work and sweat. Well, to conclude this article, one of our customers said: “I don’t play guitar. I’m a music producer, but I bought this because I respect you risking your life to make this pedal, and the story behind it—it’s a piece of art.” And that’s why I want to keep converting my thoughts into real things in this real world.

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ARCH ENEMY’s ALISSA WHITE-GLUZ Is ‘Not Ready To Release’ Her Debut Solo Album Yet

In a new interview with Finland’s Chaoszine, ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz was asked about a possible timeline for the release of her long-in-the-works debut solo album. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re not ready to release it yet, so there’s no real timeline yet. I’m stil…

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Watch: DEEP PURPLE Performs At Greece’s ROCKWAVE Festival

Fan-filmed video of DEEP PURPLE’s July 7 concert at the Rockwave festival in Athens, Greece can be seen below.
Last year, DEEP PURPLE keyboardist Don Airey told Rolling Stone magazine that there is no concrete plan for him and his bandmates to stop playing live shows.
“We started the farewell tour i…

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Watch: STEPHEN PEARCY Performs RATT Classics In Big Flats, New York

The DarthNimmer YouTube channel has uploaded video of Stephen Pearcy’s July 8 concert at the Tag’s Summer Stage in Big Flats, New York. Check out the clips below.
As the founder, lead singer, and songwriter of the metal rock band RATT, Pearcy led his creation to mega multi-platinum success year…

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GEEZER BUTLER Says Recording Audio Version Of His Autobiography Was ‘One Of The Hardest Things’ He Has Ever Done

BLACK SABBATH bassist Geezer Butler says that recording the audiobook version of his recently released autobiography, “Into The Void: From Birth To Black Sabbath – And Beyond”, was “one of the hardest things” he has ever done.
“Into The Void: From Birth To Black Sabbath – And Beyond” was released on…

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Watch: IN THIS MOMENT Debuts New Song ‘Sacrifice’ At Opening Concert Of ‘The Dark Horizon Tour’

According to The Entertainment Outlet, IN THIS MOMENT debuted a new song called “Sacrifice” at the opening concert of “The Dark Horizon Tour” on Friday, July 8 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Video of the performance can be seen below.
IN THIS MOMENT is joined on “The Dark Horizon T…

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