ALBUM REVIEW: Hall Of Maati – Crestfallen Queen

Doom, as a genre, is one of those styles of music that lends itself well to being a great musical base for progressive flourishes, with many bands over the years…

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SAMMY HAGAR Resumes His Las Vegas Residency (Video)

Sammy Hagar kicked off his 2022 “Sammy Hagar & Friends” Las Vegas residency at The STRAT Hotel, Casino & SkyPod on Wednesday (February 9), entertaining fans with a high-energy performance of some of his greatest hits, including “There’s Only One Way To Rock”, “Right Now” and “Finish What Ya Started”, and gave fans a preview of a handful of songs that will be on his upcoming album.

His Las Vegas Strip residency continued Friday night (February 11), with subsequent shows on Saturday, February 12, Wednesday, March 23, Friday, March 25 and Saturday, March 26. Fans can expect to hear songs from his MONTROSE, VAN HALEN and CHICKENFOOT days. Every night delivers a different show and in the first six shows, alone, the “Sammy Hagar & Friends” residency performed more than 100 different songs.

Sammy is joined at the shows by his supergroup THE CIRCLE, featuring Hagar’s fellow Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer and former VAN HALEN bandmate Michael Anthony, drummer Jason Bonham and guitarist Vic Johnson.

Last month, Sammy told FOX 5’s Heather Lake about his critically acclaimed Las Vegas Strip residency: “Well, last year, when we first started, Bob Weir from THE GRATEFUL DEAD came [and jammed with us]. He’s my good buddy and we do this all the time. He lives close to me. And Stephen Pearcy from RATT was in town; he came and sang a few songs with me. Rick Springfield, who’s my partner in the Beach Bar Rum, he came to town and he came up and sang with us. So, yeah, my friends always do that. At Cabo Wabo birthday bashes, I’ve had every person in the planet, has come down to my birthday and jammed, so everybody knows I’m a jammer. And the place is bigger than the Cabo Wabo, but it’s still small enough so it’s really intimate. It’s 900 seats, but the stage is a semi-circle and a ramp. I can stand right in the middle of the room. It’s awesome. The sound is great. We decorated it completely like the Cabo Wabo with all these neon paintings and murals and stuff that we had made and draped the whole place. So when you come in, the lights go down and you go, ‘Woah. Wait a minute. It’s the birthday bash.’ That’s what I think a residency has to be.”

The residency, presented by Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co.’s sparkling rum cocktails, Santo Tequila and Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum, brings Hagar’s signature beach vibe to The STRAT Theater with Cabo San Lucas-themed décor and themed cocktails.

“Sammy Hagar & Friends” is produced by industry leader SPI Entertainment and Hagar’s manager, Tom Consolo of TC Management.

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SLASH: 'Quitting Smoking Is The Hardest Thing I've Ever Quit'

GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Slash, who has not smoked since 2009, was asked in a new interview with Germany’s Antenne Sylt what advice he had for millions of smokers who are trying to quit. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Quitting smoking is the hardest thing I’ve ever quit. I can think of a lot of stuff that was hard to quit and smoking was the hardest. You just have to make that decision and then stick to it.

“I have to admit, when I quit, I had pneumonia, so for two weeks I couldn’t breathe, let alone smoke, so that got me over the hump,” he continued. “And then, from that point on, I used the patch and then I used Nicorette and then I was doing snus [a moist form of smokeless tobacco which is usually placed under the upper lip] and then regular gum. And I’m still chewing regular gum. And it’s been [more than] 12 years. So you just have to make the decision and then you have to do it. But it’s not easy.”

Back in 2018, Slash said that watching Cher perform in concert helped him quit smoking more than a decade ago. “When I did it, I had pneumonia, and pneumonia is what helped me quit smoking,” he told “WTF With Marc Maron”. “That, and I saw Cher the night before, and that’s when I caught the pneumonia. So Cher helped me quit smoking. Anyway, I couldn’t smoke. I tried — I couldn’t breathe — so I had two weeks on my back. So I quit, and then I used the patch to sort of get the edge off. Then I started doing the snus [smokeless tobacco] thing, and I was doing that for years. My significant other talked me out of doing it, and so I started doing the [nicotine] gum. And I sleep with the gum.”

Slash — who has two sons with his ex-wife Perla Ferrar — did not find it difficult to give up smoking once his mother lost her battle with cancer. “She was one of those smokers that always said, ‘I’m gonna quit one day,'” he recalled. “But while she was in the hospital, I would literally sit with her, go outside and smoke a cigarette, come back and sit with her. And then the Cher thing happened, and that’s when I said, ‘You know what?'”

The guitarist said that he was “dragged” to the Cher concert in Las Vegas by his ex-wife and “her buddies,” and was less than impressed by what he saw. “I had to leave for every song and go outside and smoke,” he said. “And I think I’d worn myself down from smoking so much, and Cher just took me over the top. Every time she revisited one of those periods [during the concert]… She had a closet on stage and she’d go in the closet and she’d come out and she’d be the Indian. Every single thing that she’s been over her career… When she started with the Sonny & Cher thing, it just killed me — I couldn’t take it. So I would smoke… I just didn’t have any fond memories of that show or any of the other stuff.”

Slash, who has been open about his previous battles with drugs and alcohol, went on to say that staying smoke-free is “tough.” He explained: “You’ve got these triggers all the time. They only last for maybe two seconds or so, but they’re really, really potent. And you can just get it watching somebody smoke on TV. I saw somebody smoking at a bus stop, and I said, ‘Ohhh…’ It happens at least once a day every day.”

Slash, who had a 60-cigarette-a-day habit, described himself as “a compulsive smoker. I chainsmoked,” he said. “And I couldn’t handle — this is not why I quit smoking — but I couldn’t handle not being able to smoke wherever I wanted.

“I was in Calabasas one time,” he recalled. “It was one of the first times I’d ever actually been there. And there’s some sort of outdoor mall-y kind of thing with a theater — it was like a pavilion of something — and I got out of the car and I lit a cigarette and I was walking wherever we were walking to through the parking lot. And they said, ‘You can’t smoke in here.’ And I said, ‘We can smoke in here. We’re fucking out here. This is out here.’ And it was, like, there’s a rule — you can’t smoke on the street. So enough of that kind of stuff [happened].”

Slash said that his cigarette habit affected his live performances, especially after a smoking ban was introduced in enclosed work places in the U.K. back in 2007.

“I was smoking at gigs, and I was on tour in the U.K., and they told me, ‘The smoking ban’s coming,'” he said. “I said, ‘You guys are gonna have some serious problems.’ It was in Ireland. [I said] ‘You know they’re gonna riot. It’s not gonna work.’ And so we finished the tour, and I came back maybe six months later, and they had passed this thing. And it was people sitting outside all smoking their cigarettes with their cocktails, and they were sitting on benches. And some hotels had put monitors outside so you could watch TV and smoke, and they just went down quietly. And it was, like, ‘Wow!’ No repercussions whatsoever — no violence, stoning or anything.”

He added: “They were trying to fine me for every cigarette I smoked on stage. So it was, like, a hundred quid for every cigarette. So we had to make up a bunch of stories, and we got out of it. But I couldn’t believe it had gotten to that point.”

Back in 2010, Slash said that he quit smoking once before, only to start lighting up again. “The first time I quit smoking was because me and my wife just had a baby and she claimed the baby smelled like an ashtray,” he said. “So I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give it a shot.’ So I quit for a year and then I started again.”

Slash is promoting the new album from SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS, titled “4”, which was released on February 11 via Gibson Records in partnership with BMG. “4” is Slash’s fifth solo album and fourth overall with his band featuring Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass, vocals) and Frank Sidoris (guitar, vocals).

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SOULFLY Featuring FEAR FACTORY's DINO CAZARES: Video Of Fresno Concert

Fan-filmed video footage of SOULFLY’s February 10 concert at Strummer’s in Fresno, California can be seen below.

FEAR FACTORY’s Dino Cazares is once again playing guitar for SOULFLY on the Max Cavalera-fronted outfit’s current U.S. tour. He previously performed with SOULFLY on the group’s last U.S. run of dates, which took place in August and September of 2021.

SOULFLY kicked off its 35-date U.S. tour on February 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The trek will make stops in Seattle, Minneapolis, Nashville, and Baton Rouge before concluding in Gallup, New Mexico on March 19. Joining the band for select dates are SHORT FUSE and 200 STAB WOUNDS.

Prior to the launch of the tour, Cavalera commented: “SOULFLY would like to welcome back our brother/legend Dino Cazares to share the stage once again with us! Round One was amazing! The Tribe in other cities will now get the chance to see this epic lineup, playing classic trax and some surprises from our new record!”

Cazares added: “I will reenter the riff vortex with the SOULFLY Tribe! I look forward to rejoining Max and La Familia on their U.S. tour, destroying stages with an avalanche of classic anthems and brand new songs.”

Last month, Max told Zippo Encore’s “Art Of Rock” livestream series: “It’s so cool that we have amazing friends like [Dino] in the industry. That you can call Dino up and he’s available. So [it’s] just really great… [Touring with him last year] was so much fun, man, because Dino… We grew up together. I was a huge FEAR FACTORY fan. I helped them get signed [to Roadrunner]. And then, of course, he plays on ‘Eye For An Eye’ on the first SOULFLY [album]; he plays guitars on it. So when we invited him to do that tour, it was a perfect match. And the fans, they lost their shit. It was so cool. Sometimes I would stay on the bus and I’d watch Dino get out of the bus and he’d just get mobbed; 10 kids would just surround him. I was, like, ‘Oh, this is cool, man. This is what’s up. This is some true metal shit right here.'”

In August, SOULFLY parted ways with longtime guitarist Marc Rizzo due to personal differences.

Rizzo joined SOULFLY in 2004, and appeared on all of the band’s subsequent records, including “Prophecy” (2004), “Dark Ages” (2005), “Conquer” (2008), “Omen” (2010), “Enslaved” (2012), “Savages” (2013), “Archangel” (2015) and “Ritual” (2018). In 2007, Rizzo became a member of CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, the side project of SEPULTURA co-founders, brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, and has performed on all CAVALERA CONSPIRACY releases including “Inflikted”, “Blunt Force Trauma”, “Pandemonium” and the critically acclaimed 2017 LP “Psychosis”.

Max and his bandmates have spent the last few months working on the follow-up to 2018’s “Ritual” at Platinum Underground in Phoenix, Arizona with producer Arthur Rizk, who has previously worked with CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, POWER TRIP and CODE ORANGE.

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I LOVE Pedals Day #12: Electro-Harmonix

Today’s I LOVE Pedals giveaway is from Electro-Harmonix. Enter for your chance to win a Platform Stereo Compressor! Ends Feb. 13, 2022.Platform Stereo CompressorThe EHX Platform Stereo Compressor/Limiter presents you with a versatile and powerful studio-quality compressor enclosed in a stompbox-sized package. Use the Platform’s compressor/limiter on any instrument—such as guitar, bass or keyboards—for precise and powerful control of your signal’s volume.I Love Pedals Day #12: Electro-Harmonix

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TED NUGENT: NEIL YOUNG Is 'A Complete Punk' Who Is Saying 'Stupid' Things

Ted Nugent has once again blasted Neil Young for pulling his music from Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan.

Young demanded that his catalog be removed from Spotify in response to “fake information about vaccines” being “spread” on the platform via Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience”. Young delivered an ultimatum, adding, “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.” Spotify announced a few days later that it would pull Young’s music catalog from its platform.

Nugent weighed in on Young’s position during yesterday’s (Friday, February 11) “Friday Free For All” edition of “The Nightly Nuge”, a news-style clip in which Ted offers his take on the news of our world every night “in a concise, fiery fashion that [is] totally Ted.” He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Well, Neil Young, God bless him. I’m sure that there’s many people that appreciate Neil Young’s creativity and his talents and his creation of wonderful music for those people who love that kind of music. I’m not a big fan. I happen to know that he’s got a lot of soul… But now that I’ve praised him for all the positives, the guy is a complete punk.

“If you’ve done that much mind-altering chemicals throughout your life, then you can proudly claim in one moment that you should be rocking in the free world but then in the next moment witness all the evidence supporting everything that Joe Rogan’s been saying, that I’ve been saying, the truth, logic and common sense, the indisputable evidence to support it, and then claim that we’re guilty of misinformation when actually the stoner birdbrain punk, he delivers misinformation,” he continued.

“So this is a funny moment because he made an ultimatum to Spotify — whatever that big tech is — and he said, ‘If you don’t take Joe Rogan off Spotify, then you have to take my music off Spotify.’ That’s a pretty decision, Neil. Thanks for making it so simple, because Neil Young on Spotify — adios, mofo. Now Joni Mitchell’s doing the same thing, and, again, God bless her. I can’t stand folk music, but I know there are a lot of people that love that kind of stuff and I salute them and thank them. And I appreciate any music that makes people happy and fortifies their American Dream, or whatever dream they might have. Is there another dream? I don’t think so. The Mexican Dream is to get the hell out and go to America.”

Ted went on to claim that Young and Mitchell “are saying things that are just stupid. And again, with all due respect… I’m sure Joni… I’ve seen Joni Mitchell do interviews; she’s a smart gal, and her musical dreams she literally has perfected. And on behalf of those people that love that kind of music, I can only salute them and celebrate the happiness that Joni Mitchell and Neil Young’s music brought them.”

In the days after Neil had his music from Spotify removed, a handful of notable artists have pulled their music from the streaming giant, blaming the platform for spreading false information about coronavirus via Rogan’s podcast.

Neil’s wife and acclaimed actress Daryl Hannah took to Twitter to express criticism for Rogan’s podcast and the eventual choice Spotify has made regarding Neil’s ultimatum.

Daryl wrote: “sad to see some confuse censorship & free speech with the choice a private company has in deciding what they profit from a podcaster is free to say whatever they want Just as Neil is free to NOT have his music on a platform that makes $$$ of disinformation that harms folks”.

In response, Rogan promised to “do my best, in the future, to balance things out,” while Spotify said it would add content advisories to podcast episodes with information about COVID-19. In an almost 10-minute-long Instagram video, Rogan said he would “try harder to get people with differing opinions on” on his show, which averages 11 million listeners per episode.

“The Joe Rogan Experience” became a Spotify exclusive in 2020, when Rogan signed a multi-year exclusive licensing deal with the streaming giant.

Spotify’s company’s chief executive Daniel Ek has defended Rogan in the past, including after an episode that featured the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones in 2020.

“We want creators to create,” Ek told The Financial Times at the time. “It’s what they do best. We’re not looking to play a role in what they should say.”

Spotify Stands Firm Against Neil Young’s Call For Censorship Against Joe Rogan

Ted Nugent has been “banned” and “censored” more than almost any artist so you might be surprised to hear the good things he has to say about Neil Young and Joni Mitchell after they tried to get Joe Rogan’s podcast “cancelled”. Of course, he also has some scorching takes on their outlandish stand that goes against everything America stands for.

Posted by The Nightly Nuge on Tuesday, February 8, 2022

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GHOST's TOBIAS FORGE: 'I Always Try To Write Songs That I Have Never Written Before'

Swedish occult rockers GHOST will release their fifth album, “Impera”, on March 11 via Loma Vista/Concord. The band’s leader, Tobias Forge, worked on the follow-up to 2018’s “Prequelle” with producer Klas Åhlund and Swedish co-writers Salem Al Fakir and Vincent Pontare, whose credits include Madonna and Lady Gaga.

Forge discussed the “Impera” songwriting process in a new interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He said: “When you’re writing, you just wanna make a really good record, drenched in as many hooks as you can possibly muster. The only problem with trying to create records for me, besides ability, is trying not to repeat myself. I always try to write songs that I have never written before. I always try to add songs to our repertoire that we don’t have already and, lyrically, I also try to not use the rhymes that were done in the past. That’s probably the hardest because you sort of run out of rhymes and words and phrases and, thus, you need to really sharpen up. Sometimes it comes out really good and sometimes I can look back on lyrics and I’m like ‘yecch.'”

Asked how the collaboration with Salem and Vincent plays into that, Forge said: “They are good friends of mine and we’ve written quite a lot together. If we set a date to work and spend a couple days in the studio, we always come out of there with something that sounds rockin’. Usually, I come in with a few ideas to work with and then we take it from there. Since they are very professional and they work together and also together with a lot of different artists, they will always give me a little bit of outside perspective. But they have another objective to what I’m doing. Where sometimes I would dismiss an idea of my own, just because I found it predictable, they can turn around and say, ‘We should do that, that’s how the song should be, because it sounds so much like GHOST.’ ‘Oh, okay.’ If I were alone in the room, I may not have thought that.”

GHOST kicked off its co-headlining tour with VOLBEAT on January 25 at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. During its 16-song set, GHOST performed the recently released single “Hunter’s Moon”, a cover of METALLICA’s “Enter Sandman” and debuted another song from “Impera”, called “Kaisarion”.

GHOST’s 26-date co-headlining U.S. arena tour with VOLBEAT and special guests TWIN TEMPLE will conclude on March 3 in Anaheim, California.

In March 2020, at final show of GHOST’s “Prequelle” tour in Mexico City, Mexico, the band officially introduced Papa Emeritus IV, the new character who will front the act for its next LP phase.

Forge performed as a “new” Papa Emeritus on each of the band’s first three LPs, with each version of Papa replacing the one that came before it. Papa Emeritus III was retired in favor of Cardinal Copia before the release of “Prequelle”.

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RICHIE FAULKNER Says Situation Between K.K. DOWNING And JUDAS PRIEST Has Been 'A Bit Of A S**t Show'

During an appearance on the “In The Trenches With Ryan Roxie” video podcast, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Richie Faulkner was asked if he has had any interactions with the man he replaced in the band, original PRIEST guitarist Kenneth “K.K.” Downing. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “The ones [I have had] with him — I say directly, through Twitter or whatever — have been positive. I mean, there was one… He said something about my payment structure, which was [laughs]… which was weird for someone to say. And it wasn’t true, which was a bit mindblowing.”

Faulkner also commented on the fact that Downing has been vocal about his dissatisfaction over the fact that he wasn’t invited to rejoin PRIEST when Glenn Tipton announced his retirement from the road nearly four years ago.

“That whole situation with him and the band over the last 10 years, to me, has been totally unnecessary; it’s been a bit of a shit show,” Richie said. “And I don’t know why that is. To me, music aside, they should maybe pick up the phone and just talk to each other as buddies and go and have a beer and just be pals. You know, fuck music for a minute; let’s just be pals. And then whatever happens, happens. They were pals for 40 years. They lived pretty much together for 40 years — four decades.”

He continued: “I wish it was different. All that weirdness of the last 10 years didn’t need to happen. If they’d parted on good terms, maybe things would be different now. But, unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”

Richie went on to express his hope that Downing and his former bandmates in PRIEST will find a way to mend their relationship if they eventually get inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

In May 2019, BLABBERMOUTH.NET published an interview Downing gave to Germany’s Bleeding4metal.de in which K.K. said that it “seems wrong” that Faulkner and drummer Scott Travis “are not officially members of JUDAS PRIEST as they are on a wage.” Within a couple of days, Faulkner released a statement disputing Downing’s comments, insisting that he hadn’t been a salaried employee “since 2012” and slamming his predecessor’s remarks as “an attempt to devalue my and Scott’s position in the band.”

Faulkner, nearly three decades Downing’s junior, joined PRIEST in 2011 after K.K. left amid claims of band conflict, shoddy management and declining quality of performance.

In 2018, Downing revealed that he sent two resignation letters to his bandmates when he decided to quit JUDAS PRIEST. The first was described as “a graceful exit note, implying a smooth retirement from music,” while the second was “angrier, laying out all of his frustrations with specific parties.”

Downing later said that he believed the second letter was “a key reason” he wasn’t invited to rejoin PRIEST after Tipton’s decision to retire from touring.

Back in 2019, Faulkner dismissed the criticism he received for supposedly trying to look too much like Downing. “Obviously, you get the [haters] — the ‘clone’ comments,” Richie told the “Let There Be Talk” podcast. “I’ve got long blond hair, playing a flying V [guitar]… [Michael] Schenker, Zakk [Wylde], K.K., Randy Rhoads — all those guys. To say I was a Ken clone was fairly narrow-minded. There’s tons of guys who have flying Vs and long hair.

“The thing is if I had dyed my hair black to be different, I would have been shot down,” he continued. “You’ve gotta be real; you’ve gotta be who you are. And I grew up on Ken, I grew up on Glenn [Tipton, JUDAS PRIEST guitarist] and the guys that I mentioned. So you’ve just gotta be who you are. And I grew up with those guys, and I’m not ashamed. I wear it on my sleeve — they’re all my influences, and I’m not afraid of that… There’s no point in trying to hide it. But it’s gotta be natural as well. And I think somehow it worked out organically. I didn’t try to copy him. And as it goes on, you always try to do your own thing and make your own statement.”

Four years ago, Downing said that he felt like he was “being cloned” when he first found out he was being replaced by Faulkner.

Downing, who announced his retirement from PRIEST in April 2011 after nearly 42 years in the job, admitted to the “Appetite For Distortion” podcast that he was taken aback when he first saw his replacement.

“Richie, as far as I know, is a nice guy and obviously an excellent player,” Downing said. “I was a bit disappointed when, basically… I think the idea was to replace me [with a lookalike], so I did feel as though I was kind of being cloned. But I’m not sure that was exactly fair to Richie. I mean, I could be off the mark here, but I think Richie had the right to bring himself to the stage with his own… portray his own image and ability to play the instrument the way that he does. But it is what it is.”

He continued: “When Glenn retired from touring [in early 2018], the same didn’t happen — obviously, [Tipton’s replacement] Andy [Sneap] doesn’t look anything like Glenn; he doesn’t wear the same clothes, the red pants, guitars or anything like that. So I don’t really know what’s going on. But it is what it is.”

In a 2011 interview with the Finnish newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, PRIEST singer Rob Halford stated about Faulkner’s physical resemblance to a younger Downing: “People are saying, ‘It’s a clone. You’ve got some of K.K.’s DNA.’ It’s just the way it turned out. We made, like, a secret search. When we knew K.K. was not gonna be making the tour, we did a lot of secret, kind of, searching for another player. And Richie just happened to be the guy. And he just happens to look a little bit of the K.K. image, you know?! I think it would be silly to say, ‘We looked for a guitar player that looks like Ken.’ What we want is a very good metal guitar player, and that’s what Richie Faulkner is.”

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Former MACHINE HEAD Guitarist PHIL DEMMEL Plays U.S. National Anthem At DUBLIN GAELS Basketball Game (Video)

Former MACHINE HEAD and current VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel performed a “ripping” rendition of the U.S. national anthem during this past Thursday night’s (February 10) Dublin Gaels basketball game as part of the East Bay Athletic League (EBAL). Video of his appearance can be seen below.

Demmel and his VIO-LENCE bandmates will release a new EP, “Let The World Burn”, on March 4 via Metal Blade Records. It is their first original release since 1993’s “Nothing To Gain”.

Joining Demmel in VIO-LENCE’s current lineup are singer Sean Killian, original drummer Perry Strickland, former OVERKILL guitarist Bobby Gustafson and ex-FEAR FACTORY bassist Christian Olde Wolbers.

VIO-LENCE released three studio albums between 1988 and 1993. The group reunited soon after Demmel left MACHINE HEAD in late 2018.

The band performed its first comeback concert in April 2019 at the Oakland Metro in Oakland, California and spent most of the ensuing months playing select shows in the U.S. and Europe.

Last year, Demmel told Revolver magazine how he first became exposed to the San Francisco Bay Area metal scene: “I grew up and still live in Dublin, California, which is about 15 miles east of Oakland. Our town has certainly seen some legends come out of it — Chuck Billy [TESTAMENT] is from here, Zet [Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza] from EXODUS is from here, my cousin, Troy Luccketta, who plays drums for TESLA, grew up in Dublin. So we had these older people who we could look up to who kind of brought us into the scene and exposed us to the clubs in and around San Francisco. I joined a band called DEATH PENALTY in June 1985, my last month of high school, and we changed our name to VIO-LENCE. We played a free keg party here in Dublin at our buddy Paul’s house, and that was our first gig. Zet had just joined LEGACY [which changed its name to TESTAMENT in early 1987] at the time, and LEGACY was getting big in the East Bay and playing all the clubs, opening for bands like LÅÅZ ROCKIT and EXODUS or SLAYER whenever they came through town. So we were seeing all this action happening at all these clubs and seeing things like slam dancing for the first time.”

Bay Area Thrash legend @DemmelitionMH did a ripping rendition of the National Anthem at @DHSGaels EBAL Basketball game tonight. ?? @MfnH @BPMDofficial #bayareathrashmetal #thrashmetal pic.twitter.com/7l0uPe8GpX
— Don Barnhouse (@bruins96) February 11, 2022

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5 Underrated Guitarists Who Will Blow Your Mind

The guitar has been a major factor in so many styles of music over the last 70 years, and any experienced musician can tell you that playing any one of those styles with authenticity takes countless hours of dedication. As we learn the instrument, we seek out music that we find inspiring to help guide us toward our voice. The legends we all know in the guitar pantheon have inspired millions of players. In my musical journey over the years, I’ve always been thrilled to discover unique musicians who never attained the same recognition as their more famous counterparts. With so much music at our disposal these days, I thought this group of guitarists deserved a little more spotlight. The inspiration and knowledge they have provided me were paramount in my development, and I wouldn’t be the player I am without them. Biréli Lagrène’s Bombastic BopStandards was the first jazz guitar record I really listened to, and his playing on this entire album is devastating. There is so much groove, joy, and ferocity in every note. The way he lays ideas out on the fretboard made a lot of sense to me, his rhythms were intentional and clear, and it was surprisingly easy to dig into as a rock guitarist at the time. He has an extensive catalog of jazz, gypsy jazz, and fusion records with some of the best in the world, and he’s also a killer bass player who can sing just like Frank Sinatra! Ex. 1 is over the first eight measures of “Stella by Starlight.” I stole so much vocabulary from this solo that I can still play bits from memory 20 years later. Lagrène’s treatment of two-measure chunks to play his ideas was significantly helpful. Whether it was an engaging rhythmic phrase, constant eighth-notes, or just cramming in as much as he could, I stopped worrying so much about catching every chord change after I learned this one.Ex. 1Stella by StarlightOld-School Swing!George Barnes is a unique jazz guitarist who was a contemporary of Charlie Christian, Johnny Smith, and Django. A significant part of his early work was writing and arranging for radio and television, for NBC, and he also wrote the very first electric guitar method book in 1942. A friend in Austin gave me two CDs of his: a collection of his playing from the Plantation Party radio show and an overview of his octet recordings. The octet recordings sound like unhinged cartoon music with guitar and orchestral instruments and are highly enjoyable. Ex. 2 is a line I lifted from a recording of him playing “Ain’t Misbehavin.” It was one of the hippest endings I have ever heard on a jazz tune, and although I can’t find the recording anywhere, I still use it all the time. I love the intention in George Barnes’ playing. Swinging and mischievous, he always sounds like he was having fun.Ex. 2The George Barnes Sextet – Lover, Come Back to Me“Thrilling” Rhythm SolosDavid Williams is one of the greatest rhythm players of all time. He is responsible for most of the memorable guitar moments on Michael Jackson’s records, and all his parts have an infectious nature. He is the primary reason I got interested in rhythm guitar, and he is still an inspiration on that front. One of my favorite examples of his playing is the breakdown in Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (where Vincent Price does the rap). His signature thunderous right-hand approach to single-note rhythm parts is in full effect, and the natural accents between the two rhythm parts are infectious on their own but weave perfectly together. Ex. 3 is my interpretation of two interlocking parts in this style. He’s said in interviews that his concept as a player was to develop “rhythm solos” that could stand out front in a song, and this is a perfect example of that.Ex. 3Thriller(Better than) Average RiffsThough Hamish Stuart is most known for being an original member of the Average White Band, the singer/guitarist/composer/producer also did extensive work with heavyweights such as George Benson, Paul McCartney, Chaka Khan, and Aretha Franklin. Though AWB was still working until 1983, Hamish was doing sessions with various artists as a sideman in the early ’80s, including this excerpt from “Move Me No Mountain” off Chaka Khan’s Naughty from 1980 (Ex. 4). I’ve always loved the interplay between these two parts, range-wise and rhythmically. The lower pick line hits some unusual 16th-note placements, and the higher dyads have a churn to them that is amazing. Both parts together feel different rhythmically from anything I have ever heard but sound so cool and unique.Ex. 4Chaka Khan – Move Me No MountainWayne KrantzWayne Krantz is one of those guys that hit me like a lightning bolt. Upon hearing him, I felt like I had “permission” to play more with the fingers of my right hand, use jagged and intentional rhythms, and above all, to play more naturally. Wayne has always played like himself. His control over rhythm and articulation alone is legendary, not to mention the vast body of unique work he has created. Ex. 5 is an excerpt from the only solo I ever learned of his, from “Infinity Split” off 1999’s Greenwich Mean. I love this solo because it is incredibly engaging rhythmically and melodically, but almost 100 percent inside the harmony. This solo taught me more about rhythmic placement and articulation than anything. Ex. 5Wayne Krantz – Infinity SplitThough I could only grab a certain percentage of these guys’ “vocabulary,” learning these parts over the years helped me find my sound. The result was an attempt to emulate some of their musicality in my way, rather than outright imitating them. Anything you hear that grabs your interest is probably worth sitting down and figuring out. While we might not mention the guitarists above alongside Hendrix or Van Halen, they have all done their part to put a brick in the cathedral, furthering music, and the instrument.

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