This gorgeous, 140-gram sea blue & olive green swirl vinyl is limited to 300 worldwide and is available for pre-order only via the Decibel webstore.
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OVERKILL bassist D.D. Verni spoke to Jeff Gaudiosi of MisplacedStraws.com about the progress of the recording sessions for the band’s new album. He said: “We’re recording it right now. A good portion of it’s done. It keeps getting moved, frankly, depending on the COVID situation, when we can tour. At first, we thought, ‘What difference does it make whether we tour or not? Just put a record out.’ And then we thought, ‘We really wanna put out the music and then bring it to the people.’ That’s the fun. It’s not just putting it out and just saying, ‘There you go’; it’s then being able to tour it and bring it and put it out there. So right now, we have a tour set for March here in the States, and then in April and May in Europe next year. The plan is to maybe have a record with that, with both those tours. So we have to kind of see how that goes with the touring part and with the record part. If the record’s done, maybe that makes sense to do. But if they pull the tours from us again, maybe we delay a little bit more; maybe we don’t at that point and we say, ‘Okay, let’s just move on.’ I’m not a hundred percent sure. But for the most part, it’s done. We’re just kind of recording, putting finishing touches on it. I mean, it’s gotta be mixed and all that, but we’re working on the cover right now with our artist. So it’s moving along.”

Last November, Verni told MetalAsylum.net that the band’s new LP would be mixed by Colin Richardson. “He did a couple of records for us, and he’s great,” Verni said.

Richardson previously worked with OVERKILL on 1997’s “From The Underground And Below”, 2000’s “Bloodletting” and 2003’s “Killbox 13”.

In June 2020, OVERKILL singer Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth told A&P Reacts that the band’s new songs were “a natural progression from ‘The Grinding Wheel’ [2017] and ‘The Wings Of War’ [2019]. I think when we had done the ‘Ironbound’ record [2010], it almost became like a trilogy in there — it was kind of like ‘Ironbound’, ‘The Electric Age’ [2012] and ‘White Devil Armory’ [2014], and they seemed to be the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost kind of a thing,” he said. “I think we kind of broke the mold a little bit with ‘The Grinding Wheel’, and then I think a little bit more with ‘The Wings Of War’. And on this one, I see it way more. And what I mean by that is that we’ve used other tools from our toolshed in the past, and that’s the slow grind that is coupled with that fast gallop. So it feels like a natural progression, but maybe two records ahead of what ‘The Wings Of War’ is. And that’s probably as objective as I can be.”

OVERKILL spent most of 2019 and early 2020 touring in support of its 19th studio LP, “The Wings Of War”, which was released two and a half years ago. The disc was recorded at Gear Recording Studio in New Jersey, SKH Studio in Florida and Jrod Productions with engineering handled by Verni and guitarist Dave Linsk. The album was produced by the band while Chris “Zeuss” Harris took care of the mixing and mastering. Travis Smith (NEVERMORE, OPETH, SOILWORK, DEATH) was again enlisted to create the artwork for the album.

“The Wings Of War” marked OVERKILL’s recording debut with drummer Jason Bittner (SHADOWS FALL, FLOTSAM AND JETSAM), who joined the band in 2017.

KING’S X frontman Doug “dUg” Pinnick will release his fifth solo album, “Joy Bomb”, on October 15 via Rat Pak Records. Pinnick’s first solo album of new material since 2013’s “Naked” features thirteen brand new tracks.

“‘Joy Bomb’ is a collection of tunes I’ve been writing for the last two years,” Doug says. “The pandemic has made me go deeper into myself and how to deal with everything and everyone in a new way. These songs are all about truth the way I see it, and I’m thankful that at 71 I can still make music that hopefully matters. ‘Joy Bomb’ is my latest offer.”

From the charging rhythms of album opener “Jon Boy” all the way through the barnstorming closing track “Making Sense Of The Bones”, Doug proves that age is nothing to him and provides an album packed with the groove, swagger, and soul that he has honed and perfected over his extensive career. Doug’s ability to combine a multitude of his influences into one seamless offering is on full display, tapping into everyone from RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE to Sly Stone to BLACK SABBATH. “A Long Way From Home”, “Like A Wolf” and “The Poison” show why Doug is still one of the best in metal and rock, while “I Can’t Fight This Feeling”, “Social Distancing” and “Long Live Love” exemplify his ability to think outside the box and expand his range.

“Joy Bomb” track listing

01. Jon Boy
02. A Long Way From Home
03. Key Changer
04. Equally Divided
05. I Can’t Fight This Feeling
06. Like A Wolf
07. Social Distancing
08. Love And Fear
09. Long Live Love
10. Slaves
11. The Poison
12. Making Sense Of The Bones
13. Like A Wolf (Reprise)

Pinnick is known first and foremost as the soulful singer and bassist for hard rockers KING’S X. Throughout the band’s lengthy and legendary career, KING’S X released twelve albums and influenced the likes of PEARL JAM, SOUNDGARDEN, DREAM THEATER, PANTERA, and many more. Throughout the early 21st century, Pinnick remained the “go-to singer” of rock — as evidenced by his appearance on recordings by first-rate rockers including Jeff Ament, Eric Gales, George Lynch, Ray Luzier, and many more. Doug has issued other solo albums under his own name, including 2005’s “Emotional Animal”, 2006’s “Songs From The Closet”, 2007’s “Strum Sum Up”, and 2013’s “Naked”.

New York death metal pioneers SUFFOCATION will release a live album, “Live In North America”, on November 12 via Nuclear Blast Records. The official music video for the first single, “Funeral Inception”, featuring photographs taken by Jason Carlson, can be seen below.

SUFFOCATION created the template for the brutal death metal genre in the early 1990s. Landmark albums such as “Effigy Of The Forgotten” and “Pierced From Within” also went on to inspire the birth of the tech-death and slam death metal genres. With the departure of original vocalist Frank Mullen, the band marks an end of an era with a live album recorded live during his last North American tour. Mixed and mastered by Christian Donaldson (BEYOND CREATION, CRYPTOPSY), this release plays like a “best of” and is the perfect farewell to one of the most influential singers in extreme music. The artwork for the album was created by Jon Zig.

SUFFOCATION guitarist Terrance Hobbs comments: “We couldn’t be more excited to bring our fans our new live CD ‘Live In North America’ featuring Frank Mullen’s last performances with SUFFOCATION. We couldn’t think of a better way to wish Frank a fantastic farewell into retirement for all his contributions to this band as a great frontman, influence, and friend — and to also share this farewell with the fans, new and old, who have been there for us over the decades. We hope the fans will hold Frank’s last recorded live tour with us close to your hearts as we do. As another chapter from SUFFOCATION closes, we are more than ready and anxious to bring you more new music and classic death metal in the upcoming months and years. So keep your eyes and ears open, stay heavy and play it loud…. see you all on the road!”

“Live In North America” track listing:

01. Thrones Of Blood
02. Effigy Of The Forgotten
03. Funeral Inception
04. Pierced From Within
05. Surgery Of Impalement
06. Dismal Dream
07. Jesus Wept
08. As Grace Descends
09. Liege Of Inveracity
10. Breeding The Spawn
11. Catatonia
12. Souls To Deny
13. Infecting The Crypts

In a 2019 interview with Heavy New York, SUFFOCATION bassist Derek Boyer stated about Mullen’s departure: “Frank knew for a long time that he was going to be out. But he kind of just got it to the point where this was a good time for him to make it an official farewell run. I think ‘…Of The Dark Light’ was an intentional last record for him. He just knew when the time was right, he was going to step down, it was just ‘…Of The Dark Light’ was the record that was his last record.”

For the last several years, SUFFOCATION has been using fill-in vocalists to accommodate Mullen’s work schedule and aversion to long bouts of touring. According to Boyer, SUFFOCATION is “not done” playing shows and will continue to make albums now that the frontman has made his exit official. “Frank, we knew he’s been talking about being done for a while,” Boyer said. “It’s one of those things you’re definitely going to get another record out of the band. It’s been tough jumping through hoops with ‘Who’s going to do this?’ We have Ricky Myers from California, who’s been doing a lot of the stuff for us. He’s doing really well right now. You’ll be seeing SUFFOCATION coming through your town. That’s not going to stop. You’ll see another record. We’re not going to skip a beat. Frank is awesome. He’s going to be missed, but the band is still a driving force.”

“…Of The Dark Light”, was produced by the band and tracked at Full Force Studios with longtime engineer Joe Cincotta (OBITUARY). Mixing and mastering was handled by world-renowned producer/engineer Chris “Zeuss” Harris (HATEBREED, ARSIS, SUICIDE SILENCE). Cover artwork was created by Colin Marks (ORIGIN, FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, KATAKLYSM).

Canadian noiserockers Tunic need only a couple minutes to thoroughly assault your senses.
The post Video Premiere: Tunic – ‘Apprehension’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

SPIN is celebrating 30 years of METALLICA’s self-titled LP, better known as the “Black Album,” by asking 30 artists to share what the effort means to them. Among the musicians paying tribute to the record is GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Slash, who said: “I think any METALLICA album is a given for a hard rock/metal record collection. They are the pinnacle of that style of music, and they were among the first bands to revolutionize that particular style and sound. But the Black Album crossed over in a way that made them a household name and they achieved that while maintaining their sonic integrity, songwriting and attitude. They took their signature style and recorded an album that became universally accessible, but still fucking cool. That is no small feat and maybe something that artists like METALLICA might not even want to do — but it happened on this record. For them, the Black Album’s legacy will live on forever.”

The Black Album is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of all time. Its 1991 release not only gave METALLICA its first No. 1 album in no fewer than 10 countries, including a four-week run at No. 1 in the U.S., its unrelenting series of singles — “Enter Sandman”, “The Unforgiven”, “Nothing Else Matters”, “Wherever I May Roam” and “Sad But True” — fueled the band’s rise to stadium headlining, radio and MTV dominating household name status. The album’s reception from the press was similarly charged, building over the years from the top 10 of the 1991 Village Voice Pazz & Jop national critics poll to becoming a constant presence in the likes of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The album’s impact and relevance continue to grow — as proven by one indisputable fact: The Black Album remains unchallenged as the best-selling album in the history of Nielsen SoundScan, outselling every release in every genre over the past 30 years.

To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the Grammy-winning, 16-times-platinum-certified Black Album is receiving its definitive re-release on September 10 via the band’s own Blackened Recordings. Remastered for ultimate sound quality, The Black Album remaster will be available in multiple configurations including 180-gram double vinyl LP, standard CD and three-CD expanded edition, digital, and limited-edition deluxe box set (containing the album remastered on 180-gram 2LP, a picture disc, three live LPs, 14 CDs (containing rough mixes, demos, interviews, live shows), six DVDs (containing outtakes, behind the scenes, official videos, live shows), a 120-page hardcover book, four tour laminates, three lithos, three guitar picks, a METALLICA lanyard, a folder with lyric sheets, and a download card).

TESLA guitarist Frank Hannon says that he went through “a month of hell” after contracting COVID-19.

A month ago, TESLA announced it was postponing a few shows after Hannon tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. At the time, Hannon wrote in a social media post that he had “not been able to move all week” and revealed that he woke up with a 102-degree fever and could “hardly breathe” on the day that TESLA was scheduled to leave for tour.

Now, in a new interview with Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station, Hannon opened up about his COVID-19 battle, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It kicked TESLA’s ass pretty good — all of us. Myself, I got vaccinated, but it was a little too late. I was not wanting to get vaccinated, and I put it off too long. I got vaccinated and about a week later I played a gig and caught COVID and took it to the band by accident. And everybody got sick. It knocked me down for a month, man. It was a month of hell, not being able to breathe and in a lot of pain.”

He continued: “People dismiss it as being, ‘Oh, it’s only a flu,’ or, ‘It’s a cold,’ or whatever, but I just lost three more friends — people in the industry that have died from it. So it’s a very serious thing. And I don’t take it lightly anymore, that’s for damn sure.”

TESLA played the first two shows of its summer 2021 tour — August 5 in Grants Pass, Oregon and August 6 in Grand Ronde, Oregon — without Frank. Filling in for him was Howie Simon (JEFF SCOTT SOTO, GRAHAM BONNET, STRYPER), who previously stood in for Hannon in September 2018.

TESLA will return to the the road on September 16 in Roanoke, Virginia.

“Myself, I didn’t even do one show [of the summer run],” Frank told WRIF. “The morning that we were leaving to go on tour, I came down with a 102 fever. So I called one of my friends that plays guitar, and he filled in for me. They did another show up in Oregon, and they got sick. So we got the kibosh put on TESLA right away.

“Our first show [back] is coming up here next week,” he added. “We had to cancel the whole run of August. COVID was a month-long ass-kicker for us. We’re gonna be starting up here September 15th and going all the way till December. We’ve even got a show in Mexico. So we’re gonna be rocking now. We’ve got a new way of handling it now. We’re even more fired up and hungry now than we were gonna be even then. So, we’re looking forward to it.”

Late last month, TESLA released the official music video for its brand new single, “Cold Blue Steel”. The clip was directed by Brandon Gullion and produced by Hannon.

TESLA’s latest album, “Shock”, was released in March 2019 via UMe. The follow-up to 2014’s “Simplicity” was produced by DEF LEPPARD guitarist Phil Collen.

LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe spoke to Meltdown of Detroit’s WRIF radio station about what it’s been like to return to the road as part of “The Metal Tour Of The Year” with MEGADETH, TRIVIUM and HATEBREED. “It’s awesome,” he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “It’s been since February 14th, 2020 since we played a show, and that was the only show we played in 2020, and we hadn’t toured in two years. It’s awesome. It’s an interesting time.”

According to Blythe, not being able to play live in 2020 was a “weird” experience. “Because we put out a record that came out last summer — a little over a year ago; I believe it came out in June 2020,” he said. “And we tour so much, so that immediately it wasn’t, like, ‘Oh my God. I’ve gotta go back on stage.’ I’ve been doing it for 27 years or whatever with this band alone. But it was weird in that we put a record out and we couldn’t go tour to support it and play new songs, and that just felt like a huge component of my life was removed. That’s the way I’ve lived my entire adult life — you write, record, put out a record and then you go out and play songs on it. So it was very strange.”

That said, “I can’t complain, because a lot of people lost businesses, lost jobs, people died and all that stuff,” Randy clarified. “I’m not gonna whine about not being able to play a rock and roll show when other people faced far more serious consequences.”

Randy also talked about how he and his bandmates are coping with the complexities and expense of doing live shows — including navigating a patchwork of safety protocols that vary by city and venue — amid concerns about resurgent COVID-19 cases.

“Dude, we’re just trying to survive this thing,” he said. “This is a crazy time. We’re trying to stay healthy, stay in the bubble and get through this tour… It is strange not to hang out with the other bands — we aren’t hanging out with other bands on their buses or in their dressing rooms. We’re out here with HATEBREED, who, they’re family to us; their singer, Jamey [Jasta], is one of my best friends. And we talk via text on tour. And we talk via text at home all the time. But it’s weird. His bus is right over beside mine, and we don’t hardly see each other. So there’s a bit of that — the normal camaraderie that you feel on a tour and the shenanigans you get into and just hanging out and playing pranks on each other, all that other crap, that’s absent. But we’re all out here trying to adapt and overcome and do what we have to during this weird, weird time to give people a rock show.”

LAMB OF GOD is touring in support of its latest, self-titled album, whcih was released via Epic Records in the U.S. and Nuclear Blast Records in Europe. The follow-up to “VII: Sturm Und Drang” marked LAMB OF GOD’s first recordings with Art Cruz, who joined the band in July 2019 as the replacement for the group’s founding drummer, Chris Adler.

“Lamb Of God” was recorded with longtime producer Josh Wilbur (KORN, MEGADETH, GOJIRA, TRIVIUM) and includes special guest appearances by Jamey Jasta and Chuck Billy (TESTAMENT).

KISS kicked off the summer 2021 leg of its “End Of The Road” farewell tour August 18 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts. Front-row fan-filmed video footage of the entire concert can be viewed below.

The Mansfield show marked KISS’s first full-length live appearance in front of an audience since March 2020.

KISS frontman Paul Stanley tweeted after the show: “FIFTEEN THOUSAND PEOPLE TONIGHT! Mansfield, You left me humbled. Thank you. My deepest attitude of gratitude.”

The band’s setlist was as follows:

01. Detroit Rock City
02. Shout It Out Loud
03. War Machine
04. Heaven’s On Fire
05. I Love It Loud
06. Lick It Up
07. Calling Dr. Love
08. Say Yeah
09. Cold Gin
10. Tears Are Falling
11. Psycho Circus
12. 100,000 Years
13. God Of Thunder
14. Deuce
15. Love Gun
16. I Was Made For Lovin’ You
17. Black Diamond
18. Beth
19. Do You Love Me
20. Rock And Roll All Nite

Earlier this week, KISS announced rescheduled North American tour dates after the band was forced to postpone five shows due to Stanley and Gene Simmons testing positive for COVID-19. The new dates in Atlanta, Georgia; Burgettstown, Pennsylvania; Clarkston, Michigan; Tinley Park, Illinois; and Dayton, Ohio will now happen in October. Due to routing and availability, the shows in Hartford, Connecticut; Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Raleigh, North Carolina have been postponed to 2022.

The “End Of The Road” tour resumed last night (Thursday, September 9) at FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine, California. Produced by Live Nation, the rest of the tour dates remain unchanged. All previously purchased tickets and VIP packages will be honored for the new dates. More information will be e-mailed to ticketholders directly.

In a recent social media post, KISS said the whole band and the crew members who are traveling with them on the tour are fully vaccinated.

Members of KISS “and their crew have operated in a bubble independently to safeguard everyone as much as possible at each show and in between shows,” the band wrote in the statement.

“The tour also has a COVID safety protocol officer on staff full-time that is ensuring everyone is closely following all CDC guidelines,” the statement continued.

KISS kicked off the summer 2021 leg of its “End Of The Road” farewell tour on August 18 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The concert marked the band’s first full-length live appearance in front of an audience since March 2020.

KISS’s farewell trek was launched in January 2019 and was originally scheduled to conclude on July 17, 2021 in New York City but is now expected to last well into 2022.

KISS’s current lineup consists of original members Stanley and Simmons, alongside later band additions, guitarist Tommy Thayer (since 2002) and drummer Eric Singer (on and off since 1991).

Formed in 1973 by Stanley, Simmons, Peter Criss (drums) and Ace Frehley (guitar), KISS staged its first “farewell” tour in 2000, the last to feature the group’s original lineup.