IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson, who was diagnosed with throat cancer back in late 2014, was asked during the question-and-answer portion of his January 18 spoken-word show in Orlando, Florida what advice he would give to anyone getting ready to start their own battle against cancer. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Here’s the way I dealt with it… And people will deal with it in different ways. I embraced the treatment. So I went along to see the big radiation machine and I said, ‘Okay, how does this work then? What does it do? And how much are you giving me and where? And how are you making a difference between this one and this one and this one? And you can do what with it? Wow, that’s really cool. That’s amazing. It’s insane, the technology.'”

He continued: “I would say embrace the treatment and always remember the [likelihood]… I don’t know what your cancer is. I don’t know the individual circumstances. I’m not a doctor, so I’m not gonna make any predictions. I can’t do anything like that, nor would I, ’cause it’s very private. But I have to say that the therapies that people are coming up with now are so on the edge and successful that you really do stand a very good chance. ‘Cause half of us are gonna get cancer, and it’s not a death sentence anymore, and you can deal with it. And the things they have to do to your body to get rid of it are getting better and better and better as we go down the line. They did some nasty things to my body. I’m lucky I’m completely clear of it and everything.

“I only really talk about it when I come to do these shows ’cause people want to know,” Bruce added. “I quite enjoy talking about it because you kind of demystify it a little bit for people. It’s a scary thing.”

Approximately 39.2 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer of any site at some point during their lifetime, based on 2016–2018 data.

According to Healthline, the cancer death rate in the United States dropped by about a third (32 percent) from its peak in 1991 to 2019 — from about 215 deaths for every 100,000 people to about 146. Much of the reduction is due to the progress made against lung cancer, which remains the leading cause of cancer death in the country.

Dickinson, who had a golf gall-size tumor on his tongue and another in the lymph node on the right side of his neck, got the all-clear in May 2015 after radiation and nine weeks of chemotherapy.

Bruce previously told iNews that he wanted to cover his cancer battle in his 2017 autobiography, “What Does This Button Do?”, to raise awareness of the condition, which affects people who often have no or minimal history of tobacco or alcohol abuse. The individuals with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer who undergo treatment have a disease-free survival rate of 85 to 90 percent over five years.

During an appearance on the Swedish TV show “Malou Efter Tio”, Dickinson spoke about how his singing voice has changed following his cancer diagnosis seven years ago.

“[It’s] a little bit different,” he said. “Two things are slightly different. One is my saliva, which obviously lubricates your throat a little bit, is a bit less than it used to be. Although, back ten years ago, if I had the same cancer, I wouldn’t be making any saliva. But now, I’m probably 70 percent, which is great. Thanks very much, everybody upstairs. [Laughs] And the other things is that I think that the shape of possibly the back of my tongue, which forms vowel sounds and things like that, might have changed shape slightly, because, obviously, it had a big lump in it, and the lump’s gone. So maybe the surface has changed shape. So I notice a few differences. Funnily enough, the top end of my voice is maybe even a little bit better than it was before. [Laughs]”

Dickinson said that he was given “the all-clear” by his specialists following an MRI scan after a course of chemotherapy and radiology.

“I was amazed,” he said. “My cancer was a 3.5-centimeter tumor in my throat and a 2.5-centimeter one in my lymph node, and that was the one that I could feel — that was the secondary one. But I did 33 sessions of radiation and nine weeks of chemo at the same time, which is fairly standard therapy for it. And it was gone. And I said to my oncologist: ‘What do you mean it’s gone? Where has it gone?’ And he said, ‘Well, your body just gets rid of it.’ A body is an amazing thing.”

Read more »

JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford has admitted that it was his idea for the group to announce its plan to embark on the next leg of its 50th-anniversary tour as a quartet. “That all came from me, it didn’t come from the band,” Halford told Billboard, explaining that he thought since the band was founded as a four-piece it would be appropriate to return to that for a 50th-anniversary celebration. “Of course, that blew up in my face, didn’t it? To have done something like a four-piece now would’ve been just not right, ridiculous, insane, crazy, off my rocker, have a cup of tea and relax. It’s kind of water under the bridge now. I think my heart was in the right place, but I’m not the first musician to have a crazy idea.”

On January 10, JUDAS PRIEST revealed that it would perform as a four-piece when it returns to the road in early March. A few hours later, the band’s touring guitarist Andy Sneap, who co-produced the group’s 2018 album “Firepower”, released a statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET in which he said that he was “incredibly disappointed” by PRIEST’s decision to carry on as a quartet and thanked the Halford-fronted outfit for the “mind-blowing” opportunity to share the stage with one of his favorite bands. Meanwhile, PRIEST fans were understandably upset about the band’s decision to forgo its classic twin-guitar attack sound and made their feelings known on social media. Some even called for the return of guitarist K.K. Downing, who joined PRIEST in 1970 and remained in the group until 2011.

On January 15, JUDAS PRIEST released a statement announcing that it was reversing its decision to tour as a four-piece, explaining that the bandmembers “decided unanimously” to continue their live shows “unchanged” with Rob, Ian Hill (bass), Richie Faulkner (guitar), Scott Travis (drums) and Andy.

Sneap, who is also known for his work in NWOBHM revivalists HELL and cult thrash outfit SABBAT, began touring with PRIEST four years ago after longtime guitarist Glenn Tipton — who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease eight years ago after being stricken by the condition at least half a decade earlier — announced in early 2018 he was going to sit out touring activities in support of “Firepower”.

Hill is the sole remaining original member of PRIEST, which formed in 1969. Halford joined the group in 1973 and Tipton signed on in 1974. Rob left PRIEST in the early 1990s to form his own band, then came back to PRIEST in 2003. Downing parted ways with the band more than a decade ago and was replaced by Faulkner.

Last month, Downing said in an interview that it was “very, very strange” for PRIEST “to even think about” the possibility of going out as a quartet. “I’m like everybody else. I’m totally bemused,” he told the “Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen” classic rock show. It was just so extreme and insulting in a way, I guess, and insulting to Glenn as well. It was kind of a slap in the face, saying, ‘Okay, you two guys did it, but we think just one guy could do what…’ It kind of made us and everything that we’ve done and created, saying it was all superfluous, really, and didn’t really have the value that… I’m sure Glenn will agree with me that it does have a value.”

Last November, JUDAS PRIEST announced the rescheduled “50 Heavy Metal Years” North American tour dates for March-April 2022. Support on the trek will come from QUEENSRŸCHE.

Read more »

An optical tremolo that expands on the technology found in vintage amplifiers. NativeAudio’s Rising Sun V2 Optical Tremolo interface features volume, waveform, and depth controls for a warm-analog tremolo experience. It includes two modes of operation: tap and ramp. Tap mode implements four sub-divisions for tap-tempo capability. Ramp mode allows for smooth transition between two selectable tremolo speeds.FeaturesAnalog-optical tremolo provides vintage tremolo sounds.Intuitive interface with volume, waveform, and depth controls for tone shaping.Tap mode with multiple sub-divisions to sync tremolo speed to the tempo of your environment.Ramp mode allows for smooth transition between two selectable tremolo speeds.9-18VDC operation for expanded headroom. External power only (no battery).Smart switching system that provides standard on/off latching and momentary operation.Top-mounted instrument and power jacks designed to save pedalboard space.Buffered-bypass design to optimize signal integrity with any instrument cable length.The Rising Sun is $239.00 USD and can be found at participating NativeAudio dealers and purchased directly at nativeaudio.com.

Read more »

Hear Portuguese vets Dawnrider channel a classic doom vibe on this bleak new track from their fourth album.
The post Exclusive Track Premiere: Dawnrider – “The Final Call” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Read more »

We caught up with Voivod bassist Dominic “Rocky” Laroche to find out what five heavy albums changed his life. To Morgoth! (Not the band!)
The post Five Heavy Albums that Changed My Life with Rocky of Voivod appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Read more »

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS’ new album, “Unlimited Love”, will be released on April 1 via Warner. The 17-song, 73-minute effort includes lead single “Black Summer” which will be officially made available tomorrow (Friday, February 4).

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS’s first new album with guitarist John Frusciante since 2006’s “Stadium Arcadium” was once again produced by Rick Rubin who previously worked on “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” (1991), “Californication” (1999), “By The Way” (2002) and the aforementioned “Stadium Arcadium”.

The band stated about the new record: “Our only goal is to get lost in the music. We (John, Anthony, Chad and Flea) spent thousands of hours, collectively and individually, honing our craft and showing up for one another, to make the best album we could. Our antennae attuned to the divine cosmos, we were just so damn grateful for the opportunity to be in a room together, and, once again, try to get better. Days, weeks and months spent listening to each other, composing, jamming freely, and arranging the fruit of those jams with great care and purpose. The sounds, rhythms, vibrations, words and melodies had us enrapt.

“We yearn to shine a light in the world, to uplift, connect, and bring people together. Each of the songs on our new album ‘Unlimited Love’ is a facet of us, reflecting our view of the universe. This is our life’s mission. We work, focus, and prepare, so that when the biggest wave comes, we are ready to ride it. The ocean has gifted us a mighty wave and this record is the ride that is the sum of our lives. Thank you for listening, we hope you enjoy it.”

Frusciante said: “When we started writing material, we began by playing old songs by people like Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson, THE KINKS, THE NEW YORK DOLLS, Richard Barrett and others. Ever so gradually, we started bringing in new ideas, and turning jams into songs, and after a couple of months the new stuff was all we were playing. The feeling of effortless fun we had when we were playing songs by other people, stayed with us the whole time we were writing. For me, this record represents our love for, and faith in each other.”

“Unlimited Love” track listing:

01. Black Summer
02. Here Ever After
03. Aquatic Mouth Dance
04. Not The One
05. Poster Child
06. The Great Apes
07. It’s Only Natural
08. She’s A Lover
09. These Are The Ways
10. Whatchu Thinkin’
11. Bastards Of Light
12. White Braids & Pillow Chair
13. One Way Traffic
14. Veronica
15. Let ‘Em Cry
16. The Heavy Wing
17. Tangelo

Last fall, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS drummer Chad Smith told Rolling Stone that the four members of the band were “getting along great”, and were “really listening to each other in a new way”.

“All of our records are just real good snapshots of where we’re at that time,” he said. “You can’t really go, ‘Oh, gee, I hope it’s as good as…’ Then you’re starting to have preconceived notions about what you want to write.

“Look, John hasn’t been in our group in 10 years. That’s a long time. So of course it’s going to sound different, but it’s going to sound like the four of us because we do have this special chemistry together. It sounds like RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, but it’s different and new, and to me that’s great.

“We really like it and we’re proud of it and it has to start there. If other people like it, great. If people compare it to this or [say] it doesn’t sound like that, we have no control over that. But yeah, we’re all really happy with the record.”

Regarding the return of Frusciante, Smith said: “He is so dedicated. He’s so into it. He’s working so hard. We’re all working hard, but he’s in there with all the overdubs and the magic that he brings.”

According to Chad, most of the new album was written after the start of the pandemic, with the actual studio sessions taking place earlier last year.

“We could just plow through and write, and that’s what we did,” he adds. “It was kind of a blessing, because we want to come out with new music and play some new songs. It’s going to be great when we finally go out next year and have a record to play, and a bunch of other stuff, obviously.”

As previously reported, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS will embark on a world tour this spring. The 32-city global stadium trek kicks off on Saturday, June 4 at Estadio La Cartuja in Seville, Spain with stops in London, Paris, Dublin, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and many more before wrapping up in Arlington at Globe Life Field on September 18. The tour is produced by Live Nation.

Frusciante originally joined RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS following the death of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak in 1988. This lineup recorded two highly successful albums that brought the group mainstream popularity: “Mother’s Milk” and “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”. Sadly, Frusciante fell into a deep heroin addiction that caused him to leave the band while touring to support “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”. Frusciante rejoined CHILI PEPPERS six years later, playing on 1999 album “Californication”, 2002’s “By The Way” and 2006’s “Stadium Arcadium” before quitting the band again in September 2009.

In October 2020, Frusciante told the Australian digital radio station Double J that playing with his RHCP bandmates Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Smith once again was like “returning to family. I’m extremely comfortable with those people. It was as if no time had gone by at all when we started playing, pretty much, with a couple of minor exceptions, like how Chad and I gradually got our communication together in a new way. Basically, we’re all just as comfortable with each other as we ever were, and it just felt like that right off the bat.”

Photo credit: Clara Balzary

Read more »

Longtime and esteemed rock journalist Steve Rosen has finally completed writing the long-anticipated book about his unique friendship with Edward Van Halen. The book is titled “Tonechaser – Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey With Edward Van Halen” and chronicles the writer’s relationship with the late, great iconic guitar player beginning in 1977 and going through 2003.

“Tonechaser” is described in a press release as “an honest and up-close look at what it was like to be friends with the greatest guitar player on the planet.”

The book is now available for pre-orders.

The cost of the book is $35.00 plus $12.00 shipping for a total of $47.00 for U.S. residents.

If you’re interested in having a copy, please send $47.00 to this PayPal address: scrosen@sbcglobal.net. Include your address.

International fans interested in obtaining “Tonechaser” can contact the author at this email for shipping information: scrosen@sbcglobal.net.

Rosen’s lengthy friendship allowed him a front-row seat into the life of Edward Van Halen. The author writes about spending time with Edward; jamming with him (unbelievably!); introducing him to Ritchie Blackmore, Billy Gibbons and Les Paul; attending NAMM Shows with him; buying him a set of guitar strings; and sharing moments with the guitarist that were both dark and ebullient.

Rosen began writing the book on August 24 — the author’s birthday — of 2020, some six weeks prior to Edward’s passing.

“I was supposed to write Edward’s authorized biography back in the mid-’80s but that book never happened,” Rosen explained. “At that point, I put to rest the idea of ever writing a book about my friendship with him. Then in 2020, I thought about my relationship with him and I was just moved to begin writing. I didn’t know where I was going or where it would take me but I wrote every day for over a year and it was the hardest stuff I’d ever written. I finally finished the book around October 2021 and felt a great release. I was really proud of what I’d accomplished and I wanted fans to read and share in what I’d experienced in my friendship with Edward.”

The book is a hardcover with a 6″x9″ format and will run somewhere between 400-500 pages. There are some very cool black-and-white photos inside. The cover was shot by legendary VAN HALEN photographer Neil Zlozower.

The book was under the art direction of Daniel Gray who recently worked on an upcoming Zlozower color photo book titled “Ed By Zloz”.

“Tonechaser – Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey With Edward Van Halen” should be ready to mail out sometime in April or May.

Read more »

Initially, KORN were never likely to be accused of brevity. From their 65-minute debut to the hour-long sprawl of 2005’s “See You on the Other Side”, the first big stretch of the band’s discography was typified by often great but generally long-winded splurges of new material. Whether by nature or design, the last few KORN albums have represented a welcome sea change in the way they put their musical statements together. No one sensible is going to argue that “Korn” (1994, their first self-titled record), “Follow the Leader” and “Untouchables” are all highlights in a surprisingly consistent catalogue, but each of them would have benefited from some judicious editing. In recent times, KORN albums have been much snappier, and their songwriting has seemed sharper, more focused and less unpredictable as a result. In particular, 2019’s intermittently harrowing “The Nothing” was easily identifiable as the most complete and streamlined KORN album yet, with every song hitting the mark, and some of them — the cudgeling “Cold” springs to mind — sounding far more potent and impactful than anything the band have released since the ’90s.

And so that trend continues on “Requiem”, which is notable for being KORN’s shortest album yet — nine songs, 33 minutes — but also for being another great example of how they have increasingly homed in on what makes their band great and have pursued that instead of endless experimentation and date-stamped collaborations. “Requiem” is one solid, convincing lump of high-grade new KORN music. Opener “Forgotten” is the perfect encapsulation of the band’s late(r) career creative surge. All the KORN hallmarks are there, but its riffs are archly typical, and the chorus hook weaves the alien and the familiar together with sublime skill. Jonathan Davis sounds better than ever too, strident in the melodies, and genuinely unhinged when Munky drops one of those slamming, obsidian riffs. “Let The Dark Do The Rest” and “Start The Healing” are equally great: the latter is truly unsettling, for all of its positive aspirations, and both uphold the enhanced, in-your-face heaviness than KORN have embraced since the return of Brian ‘Head’ Welch.

A slow-burn high point, “Lost In The Grandeur” is grimly gothic but blessed with some inspired tempo shifts and lethally intimate Davis vocal. “Disconnect” is a shuffling nightmare in waltz time, with a soaring but crestfallen chorus that sparkles above a tar-black torrent of guitars; “Hopeless And Beaten” is brilliantly grim and menacing, with scabby, doom metal overtones, warped vocal harmonies and some of KORN’s most revoltingly heavy riffs to date. Meanwhile, “Penance To Sorrow” is a ghoulish and discordant but supremely catchy deep dive into Davis’s emotional turmoil; “My Confession” is a lobotomized, mutant hip-hop strut, with more old-school KORN in its veins than anything else here; “Worst Is On Its Way” brings “Requiem” to a close with gleeful disregard for happy endings, but with absurd amounts of low-end oomph and yet another nailed-on keeper chorus.

All you get here is the good stuff, flab-free and riffed up to the fucking eyeballs. Nine great songs, 33 deliciously morbid minutes: “Requiem” is further proof of KORN’s extraordinary resilience and unerring vitality.

Read more »

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has shared another snippet of music from the band’s upcoming ninth studio album.

Earlier today, the Las Vegas-based metallers posted the 12-second clip on social media and captioned it: “The monster is waking up – 2022”.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH previously shared snippets of music from the LP earlier this month and as well as in November.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s follow-up to 2020’s “F8” is once again being recorded at the Hideout Recording Studio, the Las Vegas, Nevada facility owned and operated by Kevin Churko, the Canadian record producer/engineer and songwriter who has worked on all of FIVE FINGER’s albums beginning with the band’s sophomore release, 2009’s “War Is The Answer”.

In addition to recording an all-new album, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH recently commenced re-recording its debut LP, 2007’s “The Way Of The Fist”, for its 15th anniversary.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s upcoming album will be the group’s first with its latest addition, renowned British virtuoso Andy James, who replaced Jason Hook in 2020. James was previously featured on “Broken World”, a song that was included on the second installment of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s greatest-hits collection, “A Decade Of Destruction – Volume 2”, which came out in the fall of 2020.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has amassed over 7.6 billion streams and three billion video views to date and has sold over one million tickets between 2018 and 2020 alone. They are the second biggest artist in the hard rock space measured by total consumption (sales and streams), surpassed only by METALLICA. Recently signed to Better Noise Music, they’ve garnered 25 top 10 hit singles and 12 No. 1 singles.

Having become one of the most recognizable names in music, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH frequently plays all major festivals and sells out arenas around the world.

Since FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s debut album, “The Way Of The Fist”, came out in 2007, the band has released six consecutive albums that were certified gold or platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as well as two chart-topping greatest-hits albums. In addition, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH has earned numerous national and international awards and honors over the last decade, such as the prestigious Soldier Appreciation Award by the Association Of The United States Army, an honor bestowed upon only one other recording artist before them: Elvis Presley.

“F8” debuted at No. 1 on rock charts around the world with Top 10 Mainstream chart debuts in the USA, Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and more. “F8” features No. 1 hit singles “Inside Out”, “A Little Bit Off”, “Living The Dream” and “Darkness Settles In”.

The monster is waking up – 2022 ?‍☠️ pic.twitter.com/4MP52J8UmG
— Five Finger Death Punch (@FFDP) February 3, 2022

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Five Finger Death Punch (@5fdp)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ivan L. Moody (@ivanmoody)

Read more »