QUEENSRŸCHE played the first show of its North American tour with JUDAS PRIEST last night (Friday, March 4) at Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois.

The band’s setlist was as follows:

01. Queen Of The Reich
02. Warning
03. En Force
04. NM 156
05. Empire
06. Blood Of The Levant
07. The Whisper
08. Operation: Mindcrime
09. The Needle Lies
10. Take Hold Of The Flame
11. Screaming In Digital
12. Eyes Of A Stranger

Fan-filmed video of the entire concert can be seen below.

QUEENSRŸCHE was originally set to support SCORPIONS on their rescheduled “Sin City Nights” Las Vegas residency in March-April 2022 but pulled out of the dates in order to take part in the JUDAS PRIEST tour. SCORPIONS have since tapped SKID ROW as the new opening act for the Vegas residency.

Last November, QUEENSRŸCHE singer Todd La Torre discussed the band’s tour with PRIEST in an interview with Canada’s The Metal Voice. Regarding QUEENSRŸCHE’s decision to withdraw from SCORPIONS’ Vegas residency and do the PRIEST tour, Todd said: “The SCORPIONS, we really like them as people. We’re friends with them and we’ve gotten to tour with them several times. It’s one of those things where it’s, like, ‘Gosh, what do you do?’ People that aren’t in the business don’t understand how things work sometimes.

“I think it’s great for [QUEENSRŸCHE] to go out with [JUDAS PRIEST]; the optics are great. And we’re very honored to have gotten that.”

Last October, QUEENSRŸCHE’s Michael Wilton confirmed that returning guitarist Mike Stone will contribute guitar solos to the band’s next studio album.

Since last May, Stone has been handling second-guitar duties in QUEENSRŸCHE, which announced in July that longtime guitarist Parker Lundgren was exiting the group to focus on “other business ventures.”

Stone originally joined QUEENSRŸCHE for the 2003 album “Tribe” and stayed with the band for six years before leaving the group.

For the past five years, Casey Grillo has been filling in for QUEENSRŸCHE’s original drummer Scott Rockenfield, who stepped away from the band’s touring activities in early 2017 to spend time with his young son.

In early October, Rockenfield filed a lawsuit against the band’s fellow original members Wilton and Eddie Jackson (bass), alleging, among other things, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and wrongful discharge.

QUEENSRŸCHE spent the last two months recording its new album for a tentative late 2022 release.

Queensrÿche Peoria 2022

Posted by Matt Verden on Friday, March 4, 2022

Frontiers Music Srl will release of Jani Liimatainen’s (THE DARK ELEMENT, INSOMNIUM, SONATA ARCTICA) new solo album, “My Father’s Son”, on May 6. The Finnish musician’s impeccable talents are on full display on this new LP and he’s got a stellar cast of friends lending their talents to the proceedings.

The album’s first single, “All Dreams Are Born To Die”, which features guest lead vocals from Tony Kakko of SONATA ARCTICA, can be streamed below.

“My Father’s Son” includes guest lead vocals from Björn “Speed” Strid (SOILWORK, THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA), Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica), Timo Kotipelto (STRATOVARIUS), Anette Olzon (THE DARK ELEMENT, NIGHTWISH), Renan Zonta (ELECTRIC MOB), Pekka Heino (BROTHER FIRETRIBE) and Antti Railio (CELESTY, DIECELL). Liimatainen even takes on lead vocal duties himself as well. Additionally, bassist Jonas Kuhlberg (ONE DESIRE), drummer Rolf Pilve (STRATOVARIUS, SMACKBOUND) and pianist Jarkko Lahti provide instrumentation, while Liimatainen handles guitars, keyboards, and programming. Jens Johansson (STRATOVARIUS, RAINBOW) and Janne Huttunen provide guest keyboard and saxophone solos, respectively.

Liimatainen’s career in metal kicked off as a founding member and guitarist for one of Finland’s premiere power metal bands, SONATA ARCTICA. Currently, Liimatainen is a member of the popular melodic death metal band INSOMNIUM. He is also a member of CAIN’S OFFERING alongside STRATOVARIUS vocalist Timo Kotipelto as well as being the guitarist/composer for the symphonic metal band THE DARK ELEMENT, which features former NIGHTWISH vocalist Anette Olzon. Both CAIN’S OFFERING and THE DARK ELEMENT have released two well-received albums each, both racking up millions of streams on digital music platforms and with THE DARK ELEMENT, multiple music videos with millions of views.

Those highlights of his musical resume more than speak to Liimatainen’s talent and building legacy in the heavy music world. With the cast of friends who have joined him to help him fulfill his ambitious vision for “My Father’s Son”, his new solo album will surely further cement his standing as one of the great guitarists and musical talents to emerge from Finland.

Track listing:

01. Breathing Divinity (Vocals: Björn “Speed” Strid)
02. All Dreams Are Born To Die (Vocals: Tony Kakko)
03. What Do You Want (Vocals: Renan Zonta)
04. Who Are We (Vocals: Timo Kotipelto)
05. Side By Side (Vocals: Pekka Heino)
06. The Music Box (Vocals: Renan Zonta)
07. Into The Fray (Vocals: Timo Kotipelto)
08. I Could Stop Now (Vocals: Anette Olzon)
09. Haunted House (Vocals: Jani Liimatainen)
10. My Father’s Son (Vocals: Antti Railio)

Recording lineup:

Vocalists:

Pekka Heino
Tony Kakko
Timo Kotipelto
Jani Liimatainen
Anette Olzon
Antti Railio
Björn Strid
Renan Zonta

Musicians:

Jani Liimatainen – Guitars, keyboards, programming
Jonas Kuhlberg – Bass
Rolf Pilve – Drums
Jarkko Lahti – Piano
Jens Johansson – Guest keyboard solo
Janne Huttunen – Guest saxophone solo

Backing vocals:

Petri Aho
JC Halttunen
Tony Kakko
Jani Liimatainen
Anette Olzon
Antti Railio
Björn Strid
Lassi Vääränen
Renan Zonta

Kolovorot, the cult Ukrainian underground heavy metal merchandise shop which is situated in historical part of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, was heavily damaged during a barrage of Russian air and rocket attacks earlier this week.

On Friday (March 4), the organizers of Ukraine’s Metal East Nove Kolo heavy metal festival uploaded photos of the destruction at the store and included the following message: “Here is Kolovorot shop in Kharkiv. The cult Ukrainian place of underground merch, the place from which Metal East: Nove Kolo is mostly organized. It is the very small part of the results of Russian invasion in Ukraine.

“We are all in Ukraine now. We continue to fight for our land.

“We ask bands which have played at our festival, bands with which we have cooperated via Musical Hall/Kolovorot, all the customers and fans to spread the word and to help stop war in Ukraine.

“We will definitely win. And then we will see you all at Metal East: Nove Kolo and in the renewed Kolovorot.”

According to CNN, Russian forces have targeted residential areas in Kharkiv, a city of about 1.5 million people, hitting civilian infrastructure such as schools, shops, hospitals, apartment blocks and churches. The city’s Freedom Square, the center of public life in Kharkiv, was hit with was believed to be a cruise missile, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister said.

Kharkiv, a predominantly Russian-speaking city, has been under attack since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.

But despite heavy shelling and its proximity to the Russian border, Kharkiv is still under Ukrainian control.

In the nine days since the invasion began, more than one million people have fled Ukraine for neighboring countries, according to the U.N.

On March 2, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly denounced Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and demanded the Kremlin immediately cease its military offensive and “immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine.” In addition, dozens of countries referred Moscow to be probed for potential war crimes.

On February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Putin made the announcement during a televised early morning speech, peddling accusations of Nazi elements within Ukraine to justify the attack on his western neighbor, a move that experts slammed as slanderous and false. (Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish and lost three family members in the Holocaust.)

The Russian leader called for Ukraine’s “demilitarization and denazification” and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen.”

Putin’s military aggression — which has been described by U.S. president Joe Biden as an “unprovoked and unjustified attack” on Ukraine — has resulted in at least 225 deaths and 575 civilians injured, a United Nations agency said on Tuesday.

Here is Kolovorot shop in Kharkiv. The cult Ukrainian place of underground merch, the place from which Metal East: Нове…

Posted by Metal East Нове Коло on Friday, March 4, 2022

Posted by Kolovorot Shop on Wednesday, May 5, 2021

Ex-DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy attended the group’s concert last night (Friday, March 4) at Beacon Theatre in New York City. It is believed to the first time Portnoy witnessed his former bandmates perform live since his exit from the iconic progressive metal outfit more than 11 years ago.

According to DREAM THEATER fans who attended last night’s show, singer James LaBrie gave Portnoy a shoutout from the stage and Mike saluted. Several fans also took pictures of Portnoy at the venue, with Mike and his wife reportedly watching the performance from near the Beacon Theatre soundboard.

Portnoy, who co-founded DREAM THEATER 37 years ago, abruptly quit the band in September 2010 while on tour with AVENGED SEVENFOLD. He has since been replaced by Mike Mangini (ANNIHILATOR, EXTREME, STEVE VAI).

Portnoy was a guest on DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci’s second solo album, “Terminal Velocity”, which was released in August 2020 via Sound Mind Music/The Orchard. The effort marked the first time Petrucci and Portnoy recorded together in over a decade, as well as their first time playing together since Portnoy departed DREAM THEATER. John later shot down speculation among DREAM THEATER fans that it’s only a matter of time before Portnoy returns to the band, telling Spain’s Metal Hammer: “I think it’s really important for everybody’s sake — for fans to understand this. I think it’s important, out of respect for both drummers — for Mike Mangini and Mike Portnoy — that there’s no misconstrued thing: ‘Oh, this means something else.’ This is [Portnoy] playing on my solo album, which is a really happy moment for me… I don’t want people to get the wrong idea. I don’t wanna create any drama or weirdness, because it’s all positive. I made a solo album — finally, after 15 years — and I got my friend to play drums on it, who I haven’t played with in 10 years. So that’s the vibe.”

In a 2017 interview with Rockhok, Portnoy insisted that had “no longing to reunite” with DREAM THEATER but said that he would return to his former band “for the fans.” He explained: “The ball’s in their court, to be honest. I have no longing to reunite with them; it’s not something I necessarily am looking to do or want to do. I’m very content with all the eighty-seven bands I currently have going, so it’s something I need. But I would do it for the fans, because I’m a very sentimental person and I have a lot of great, fond memories of those guys and the times. I’m a sentimental guy, so I would never close the door on it. So, really, the ball’s in their court, honestly. [But] if you’re asking me the odds [of a reunion happening], I would say, don’t bet on it, because I know their personalities as well and I don’t think they’re the type that are looking backwards.”

A couple of years ago, Portnoy told Loud that he left DREAM THEATER because he wanted to expand his musical horizons. “[I didn’t] want to go to my grave and just be the drummer from DREAM THEATER,” he said. “I knew there was way more to what I had to offer.”

Since the 2010 departure of Portnoy, Petrucci, along with keyboardist Jordan Rudess, has taken on much of the songwriting load for DREAM THEATER, including 2016’s controversial double concept album, “The Astonishing”, 2019’s “Distance Over Time” and the band’s latest LP, 2021’s “A View From The Top Of The World”.

LaBrie discussed his relationship with Portnoy in a November 2021 interview with Radio Forrest. He said at the time: “I haven’t spoken to Mike, to be quite honest, since he left the band. So I think that pretty much says it all.”

LaBrie had previously seemingly closed the door on the possibility of a DREAM THEATER reunion with Portnoy, telling Chile’s Radio Futuro in an August 2013 interview: “That possibility, I don’t see it ever happening; it’s not gonna happen. Because, first and foremost, Mike Mangini is a full-fledged member of the band now, he’s a phenomenal drummer and he’s doing everything that we could possibly want as a drummer in a band. He’s helping us realize exactly what we wanna do right now musically. And he will be our drummer until the day that we finish doing this, when we conclude. Mike Portnoy was a big part of our past, but I think that’s where it’s going to remain. He was a drummer from the past. And as far as presently and into the future, it will be Mike Mangini, and we all feel very strongly about that. He’s an incredible drummer, he’s an incredible asset to the band, and he is fulfilling our wildest dreams as far as what we’re doing musically and what we’re doing with each album. So that’s the way it stands.”

OMG—MIKE PORTNOY at the Dream Theater show now!!! Mike Portnoy is at the DT show in NYC ¾/2022 with his wife Marlene and James greeted him from the stage!

Posted by Amanda Palamara on Friday, March 4, 2022