How a pummeling Garth Brooks cover helped hard-rocking Oklahomans Fist of Five tackle social stigmas

FoF discuss their recent resurgence, and confronting grief and mental health stigmas on their upcoming album, Sparrow Road

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IRON MAIDEN's 'Legacy Of The Beast' Teams Up With DISTURBED For New In-Game Event

IRON MAIDEN’s “Legacy Of The Beast” free-to-play mobile game has announced a major in-game collaboration, this time with American rock legends DISTURBED.

Following successful collaborations last year with AMON AMARTH, LACUNA COIL and GHOST, “Legacy Of The Beast” has teamed up with DISTURBED to bring the iconic cloaked mascot The Guy to life in the mobile game.

“Legacy Of The Beast” has created a new limited-time in-game event called Disturbing Sciences featuring a limited-time character, The Guy. The game’s Disturbing Sciences event is an ode to both bands’ lore taking its broad themes from the cover of IRON MAIDEN’s 1986 album “Somewhere In Time” and “Disturbed: Dark Messiah”, a five-part comic book series where The Guy makes his comic book debut.

Over the years, The Guy has been depicted as an antihero, saving people from corporate corruption, often through violent means. In this new storyline, Cyborg Eddie and The Guy have been summoned through time and space to the Polvo Valley, a small town transformed into a hyper-sanitized, machine-driven industrial city, where Eddie and The Guy are dead-set on punishing the city’s corporate overlord, Brian Kek, and confronting the CEO at Kek Tower before discovering the depth of his hubris.

Speaking on the new collaboration, DISTURBED frontman David Draiman shares: “Myself and the guys from DISTURBED are humbled to be included in the ‘Legacy Of The Beast’ game. We feel that The Guy is a worthy addition to the saga and we’re very happy to be a part of it. When we first saw the first concept pieces of how he would be integrated into the game, it was thrilling for all of us. It’s still kind of surreal.”

David continues: “I love that our ‘Dark Messiah’ storyline from the DISTURBED comic book series (from the graphic novel) is being integrated into the video game series, I think they go hand and hand with one another. I love more people having the opportunity to play as The Guy … and battle the forces out there that deserve to have their asses handed to them.”

Navigator Games CEO Will Moore says: “We had such a positive response to our in-game band collaborations last year, we wanted to keep the momentum going into 2022.

“We have several surprises planned this year, and what better way to kick things off, than by bringing DISTURBED’s iconic mascot to life.

“It was such a natural fit to include ‘The Guy’ in Eddie’s world and have them battle the forces of evil together.”

In “Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Beast”, metal and RPG gaming fans take on the role of the band’s iconic mascot Eddie who travels across a spectacularly diverse array of worlds by traveling through time in captivating 3D environments. Eddie appears in many forms, each a part of IRON MAIDEN’s rich history, and each with a set of special powers and abilities.

Over the years, the game has expanded to include 20 dungeons and six unique Worlds, from the pits of Hell, Ancient Egypt, World War II to the far future, hundreds of characters including 90 Eddies based on classic MAIDEN album covers. A vast array of enemies — corrupt Demons (Lucifer, Baphomet), Gods (Horus, Osiris, Odin) and Monsters, a bloody Player vs Player Battle Arena and a ruthless Gauntlet feature designed to satisfy new players and hardcore long-term players. The latest feature “Clans” allows players to join forces with their blood brothers to complete team tasks and face off against monstrous Raid Bosses. All to an in-game soundtrack of over 30 IRON MAIDEN tracks, including “The Trooper”, “Where Eagles Dare”, “Aces High” and more.

“Iron Maiden: Legacy Of The Beast” is an action-packed, free-to-play mobile game available on Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

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DREAM THEATER's JAMES LABRIE Explains How He Earned 'Pirate' Nickname

In a new interview with Alicia Atout, DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie explained the origins of the nickname “Pirate,” which was given to him by one of his bandmates. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I have a proclivity of being somewhat… I guess I can be moody at times, but normally I’m usually straight and even and a real nice guy. But there’s this tendency of me, depending on what’s going on on the road, and it’s usually if I’m not feeling well — like anybody — I can get moody. So Jordan Rudess, our esteemed keyboard player… One day I was in one of those moods, just, like, ‘Hey, just leave me alone. I’m dealing with stuff. I’ve got a really wicked cold,’ and whatever; that whole singer syndrome bullshit that goes on. So he started calling me, he goes, ‘No problem there, Pirate.’ And I looked over and I go, ‘What? What did you say?’ And he called me a pirate, ’cause he goes, ‘Well, you’re like an angry pirate.’ And I said, ‘Okay. Whatever.’ And then he just started calling me that all the time. So the days went on, and he’d just say, ‘Hey, Pirate.’ And then somebody else on the crew would hear him and they’d go, ‘Oh, Pirate. What, are you calling James ‘Pirate’?’ That’s how it started — like, seriously. It was that easy… It’s nothing like the band started going, ‘Hey, man. James, you remind me of a pirate.’ It all came from Jordan. And it stuck… Well, he calls me ‘Captain’ sometimes too. ‘Hey, Captain.'”

DREAM THEATER kicked off its “Top Of The World” 2022 North American tour on February 2 at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona. Fan-filmed video footage of the concert can be seen below.

The rescheduled dates for DREAM THEATER’s postponed North American leg of the “Top Of The World” tour will run seven weeks before ending in Austin, Texas on March 21. The tour will also make stops in Los Angeles, California; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; New York City and Dallas, Texas, among others, and will mark the first live performances of music from DREAM THEATER’s latest release, “A View From The Top Of The World”. ARCH ECHO is the opener on all dates in the United States and FALSET will be the opener on all of the dates in Canada. Information on tickets for all upcoming shows as well as VIP packages can be found at www.dreamtheater.net.

Last November, DREAM THEATER was announced as one of the “Best Metal Performance” nominees at the 64th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on April 3, 2022 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The progressive metal legends were nominated for their song “The Alien”, the first single from “A View From The Top Of The World”, which came out in October.

DREAM THEATER’s previous Grammy nominations were for the song “On The Backs Of Angels”, from 2011’s “A Dramatic Turn Of Events” album, and the single “The Enemy Inside” from 2013’s “Dream Theater”.

“A View From The Top Of The World” marked DREAM THEATER’s second studio album with InsideOut Music/Sony Music. The artwork was created by longtime cover collaborator Hugh Syme (RUSH, IRON MAIDEN, STONE SOUR). “A View From The Top Of The World” was produced by guitarist John Petrucci, with engineering and additional production by James “Jimmy T” Meslin and mixing and mastering by Andy Sneap.

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Learn 60 years of legato guitar in 5 generation-spanning lessons

Master the evolution of legato technique from the ’70s to the present day, spanning Eddie Van Halen to Steve Vai and Guthrie Govan

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Best high-end acoustic guitars 2022: 10 of the most lust-worthy instruments for guitarists

Our pick of the world’s finest acoustic guitars from Martin, Taylor, Gibson, Epiphone, Breedlove, Guild, Takamine…

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Track Premiere: Cavernlight – “As I Cast Ruin Upon The Lens That Reveals My Every Flaw”

Wisconsin doom crushers Cavernlight return for the first time in five years with the title track to new LP, As I Cast Ruin Upon The Lens That Reveals My Every Flaw.
The post Track Premiere: Cavernlight – “As I Cast Ruin Upon The Lens That Reveals My Every Flaw” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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Foo Fighters go death metal on surprisingly heavy new track March of the Insane

The old-school metal thrasher features a killer shred solo and arrives ahead of the release of the band’s new movie Studio 666

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Best Fender Play deals February 2022: find the biggest savings on our favorite online guitar lesson service

Take your guitar playing to the next level for less with these Fender Play discounts

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New VIXEN Bassist JULIA LAGE: 'It's An Honor For Me To Join' The Band

A week ago, longtime VIXEN bassist Share Ross announced that she was “taking a hiatus” from the band. Her replacement is Julia Lage, formerly of the Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian rock group BARRA DE SAIA and wife of Richie Kotzen.

During an appearance last Friday (February 11), on SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”, Julia spoke about how she ended up hooking up with VIXEN, saying: “Share is taking a hiatus. She wants to do her thing [and focus on her real estate career]. She’s kicking ass. She’s gonna be writing and playing forever — I mean, she’s a badass artist and bass player, singer, everything, songwriter. So I got the invitation, and I’m, like, ‘Yeah, of course I’m gonna join. Of course.'”

Asked how the other members of VIXEN reached out to her about joining the band, Julia said: “Well, actually, funnily enough, before [guitarist] Britt [Lightning, a.k.a. Brittany Denaro] joined VIXEN, me and her tried to put together a band, right when she moved to L.A. But that didn’t work out, and then she joined VIXEN, and I was super happy for her. So, fast forward, she actually called me a few months ago and she told me about the scenario, and I was, like, ‘Yeah. I would love [to do it]. I mean, it’s an honor for me to join VIXEN.’ So that happened. And that was it. It was that quick. And I was just, ‘Okay. Sign me in. Where can I go?’ [Laughs]”

Lage also reflected on her first performance with VIXEN, which took place on February 8 at the pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert at Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida. She said: “[Share played] a little more than half of the set, and then [before] the last three songs, she stopped [the show] and talked about [her plans] a little bit and told everybody what’s gonna happen and introduced me. And then I stepped in and played the last three songs with them. And then actually she came back for the last song and sang along with us. It was just very nice. I thought it was very emotional too. It was a good way to transition.”

Pressed about whether her position with VIXEN is just a temporary one or she will join the band permanently, Julia said: “We didn’t really discuss that, but [Share is] taking her time. She might come back; she might [not]. I don’t know. Whenever they need me, I’m there for them. And I’m gonna do my best to honor her bass lines and everything. And I’m gonna be having with it, that’s for sure.”

When Ross made the news of her departure public at the aforementioned pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert, she told the crowd that “life got a little complicated” and that “something has to give,” resulting to her decision to “step away from VIXEN for a while.” She then introduced her “amazing” replacement and urged the VIXEN fans to “graciously” open their arms and welcome Lage to the group. At that point, Julia and her new bandmates launched into the track “Streets In Paradise” and played the last couple of songs of the set with Ross watching the proceedings from the side of the stage.

The only remaining member of VIXEN’s “classic” lineup is drummer Roxy Petrucci, who is also joined in the group by Lightning and singer Lorraine Lewis.

In January 2019, VIXEN recruited Lewis as its new lead singer following the departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis had already performed with VIXEN in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery.

Prior to Lewis’s addition to VIXEN, Petrucci, Ross and Denaro vowed to “expand upon the VIXEN legacy while remaining true to our musical roots.”

Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN’s classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.

Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN’s most commercially successful studio albums — “Vixen” (1988), “Rev It Up” (1990) and “Tangerine” (1998) — as well as the group’s latest release, 2018’s live album “Live Fire”.

It was announced at the start of the pre-party that Vixen had a big surprise during their show.
I’ve been to thousands…

Posted by Gary Allen on Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Vixen with NEW bassist.. Julia Lage-Oficial

Posted by Will To Rock on Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Vixen with their new bass player, Julia Lage! ?

Posted by Melissa Corcino Petersen on Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Good night ladies! @OfficialVixen at @MonstersCruise pre cruise party! #monstersofrockcruise pic.twitter.com/aP7BgwQ9Nl
— monstersofrockcruise (@MonstersCruise) February 9, 2022

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Dark Funeral's Lord Ahriman channels sinister riff magic in this brutal playthrough of Let the Devil In

Watch the lead single from the Swedish black metallers’ upcoming album, We Are the Apocalypse, in all its six-string glory

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