EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt says that he is working on two new solo projects, including a follow-up of sorts to his debut solo album, “Schizophonic”, which came out in 1997 on A&M Records.

On Wednesday (January 26), Bettencourt took to his social media to write: “NEW MUSIC ANNOUNCEMENT 2022!!!

“I’m departing on a new and exciting journey. Working on two seperate solo projects. On one of them I have a full album already written and recorded and will form an exciting new band for it.

“I am doing a worldwide search for an incredible singer/frontman , an amazing Rthm section with a killer bass guitarist and drummer that can lock in together and sing bvs as well.

“Please submit a video of yourself killing it on stage and any music performance of you on your instrument or as a frontman performing live at Dreamers@atlantisentertainment.com. Show me what you’re all about.

“My second project is ALL ME lol… truly solo and a real departure sonically … somewhat of a SCHIZOPHONIC part 2 for those who know.

“So pumped to share new music.”

Bettencourt rose to rock superstardom as lead guitarist of the legendary rock band EXTREME. He has parlayed that success into an acclaimed career as a Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum artist, songwriter, and producer, working alongside industry titans such as Sir Paul McCartney, Steven Tyler, Kanye West, Robert Palmer, Rihanna, Janet Jackson and Perry Farrell, among others. Nuno is also the CEO and co-founder of Atlantis Entertainment, a full-service media and production company which creates and produces content through ventures integrating film and television, music, branded entertainment, commercials and digital content.

One of many career highlights for Nuno occurred when EXTREME performed, along with members of QUEEN, at Wembley Stadium at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992. Nuno was also invited to perform at the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize concert with Steven Tyler in 2014 as well as the 2015 Grammy Awards, side by side with Sir Paul McCartney, Rihanna and Kanye West, performing the No. 1 Billboard R&B/hip-hop song “FourFiveSeconds”. As a producer and songwriter, Nuno has produced and performed on hit songs with such greats as Rihanna, Robert Palmer, Perry Ferrell and Janet Jackson, as well as currently producing a number of new and exciting, soon-to-be-released emerging pop artists and albums.

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Industrial metal pioneers MINISTRY have released the official music video for their song “Believe Me”. The track is taken from the band’s 15th studio album, “Moral Hygiene”, which was released last October via Nuclear Blast Records.

The “Believe Me” video is a departure from the two previously released professional clip from the album and became a total DIY effort, with each of the bandmembers — drummer Roy Mayorga, guitarists Cesar Soto and Monte Pittman, bassist Paul D’Amour and keyboardist John Bechdel — gearing up for the upcoming tour at home and purchasing an inexpensive green screen to contribute their parts to the performance footage that was then melded together. MINISTRY hopes to encourage other artists to do the same during these difficult times when budgets are tight and still have fun with the creative process.

In a recent interview with Australia’s Heavy, MINISTRY frontman Al Jourgensen stated about the new LP’s musical direction: “Same old stuff. Just a progression of the MINISTRY sound that’s been refined for the last 30 [or] 40 years. And I think we hit a good one this time. There’s a couple that I wish I could have back, and there’s a couple that I’m really gung-ho about. But this one’s in the ‘gung-ho’ category. This one makes a lot of sense for the times that we’re living in.”

As for the lyrical themes covered on “Moral Hygiene”, Jourgensen said: “We cover everything — from the actual pandemic to climate change to the political climate now. And I don’t mean so much the politicians as much as the rise of fascist tendencies all over the world and in various countries. And a lot of life topics like that.”

“Moral Hygiene” was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on “AmeriKKKant”) at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen’s self-built home studio and creative lab. As with all MINISTRY albums, all songs are written and performed by Jourgensen.

MINISTRY will debut new songs from “Moral Hygiene” on the upcoming “Industrial Strength Tour”, kicking off March 2, alongside celebrating the 30th anniversary of seminal album “The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste”. Special guests THE MELVINS and CORROSION OF CONFORMITY will share the stage nightly as the tour’s special guests. Due to overwhelming demand, MINISTRY added 13 new dates with the tour now running through April 18.

On July 29, Swedish/Canadian/American melodic death metallers ARCH ENEMY will release their 11th studio album, “Deceivers”, via Century Media Records. A collection of 11 tracks that are ruthlessly catchy and mercilessly violent, “Deceivers” stands toe to toe with the highlights of the band’s storied catalog. Fans can expect the new single “Handshake With Hell” to drop next week (Friday, February 4) along with the album pre-order start.

Before “Handshake With Hell” launches next week, fans can also check out the previously released album tracks, “Deceiver, Deceiver” and “House Of Mirrors”.

ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott comments: “Having just celebrated our 25th anniversary as a group and now releasing our 11th studio album, one could easily assume that we would be cruising along and going through the motions at this point. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to ARCH ENEMY and our new album, ‘Deceivers’.

“It is, without a doubt, always a challenge to raise the bar each time in both the songwriting and production side of things, and it can feel a bit daunting before we get into it. But once we do get started and fully immerse ourselves in the creative process, it’s really like there is nothing else in the world and we are very focused. And believe it or not, for the most part, we have a ton of fun making this music! Creating ‘Deceivers’ was no different. Once again we shut out the outside world and went deep into the artistic zone. I believe we pulled out some really interesting musical and lyrical themes this time, a few things might even raise an eyebrow or two — while retaining all the signature elements of the band. In the end, it’s ARCH ENEMY at full speed and power.”

“Deceivers” track listing:

01. Handshake With Hell
02. Deceiver, Deceiver
03. In The Eye Of The Storm
04. The Watcher
05. Poisoned Arrow
06. Sunset Over The Empire
07. House Of Mirrors
08. Spreading Black Wings
09. Mourning Star
10. One Last Time
11. Exiled From Earth

This spring, ARCH ENEMY and BEHEMOTH will return to the states to co-headline “The North American Siege 2022” tour with NAPALM DEATH and UNTO OTHERS as special guests, before ARCH ENEMY appears at select summer festivals; the rescheduled “European Siege 2022” tour (with ARCH ENEMY, BEHEMOTH, CARCASS, UNTO OTHERS) will kick off in the fall.

“Despite the obvious uncertainties everyone is currently facing in the world, we have got quite a few concerts booked for this year!” says Amott. “We’re delighted to be returning to the live stage in North America this spring and hitting select European festivals in the summer, as well as a huge European tour at the end of 2022. It’s time; let’s do this!”

Last month, ARCH ENEMY released another new song, “House Of Mirrors”. Mixed and mastered by Jacob Hansen, an accompanying music video for the track was directed by Grupa13.

“House Of Mirrors” marked the second new ARCH ENEMY track to be made available in four years, following the October 2021 arrival of “Deceiver, Deceiver”.

In the fall of 2018, Amott revealed that he had commenced the songwriting process for the follow-up to the “Will To Power” album. Released in 2017, that disc marked the second ARCH ENEMY LP since the departure of longtime singer Angela Gossow and addition of ex-THE AGONIST frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz. It was also the first ARCH ENEMY disc to feature former NEVERMORE guitarist Jeff Loomis, who joined the band in late 2014.

Jeff, who was the main songwriter in his previous group, NEVERMORE, was not involved in the writing for “Will To Power”.

Album artwork by: Alex Reisfar

ANTHRAX’s Joey Belladonna says that having an original singing style is very important to him, explaining that “trying to be somebody else” was never his goal.

Belladonna discussed his vocal technique while filming a video message on Cameo, which lets users hire celebrities to record brief, personalized video messages about virtually any topic.

In a video he recorded for Boston-based musician Corpseweed last May, but which has just now been uploaded to YouTube, Joey said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Doing a record’s a hell of an accomplishment — just to get four or five people together to actually have the best foot forward and the same vision musically and just relying on people to show up and put the work in and just take the time to be a great band and even stick together, for god’s sakes. That’s a hard thing.

“I really haven’t been in a lot of bands, but enough change of bands where I’m just completely amazed how people just come and go — they’re just not into it as much, and people have other means of life that they wanna do instead of playing in a band,” he continued. “And music isn’t a big deal to ’em. They wanna be around all the fun — all the amenities you get with being in a band and all that kind of stuff. For me, I never really was interested in all that. I love music — I love the way it sounds, I like the way it feels, I like the way it puts me in a good mood, and I love to see people happy. At any given time when I’ve done what I’ve done, to see ’em all happy and see that it brought ’em joy, that’s really the main thing for me. Yeah, there’s been plenty of other good things to go with it, but that’s the main goal.”

Belladonna also reflected on how his powerful, operatic singing style gave ANTHRAX’s music unprecedented depth when he first joined the band in 1985.

“For me in ANTHRAX, I just walked into something that really wasn’t quite my style, but within days I heard myself sound good over that music,” he said. “So I was capable of doing that music where I didn’t do it before. But it also gave me a chance to broaden my abilities, to do different things and show that I have a different style than most people. Originality is really a big thing; that’s something you really wanna make sure that that sticks with you. Trying to be somebody else really was never my goal. I did listen and favor a lot of musicians, just because I just love the way they do it, but I don’t sound like any of ’em. I can do a lot of ’em, but I don’t sound like [them]; that’s just not me. When I sing my own stuff, I have my own style and it makes it recognizable.

“We [in ANTHRAX] work hard at what we do and we keep ourselves really, really focused on getting stuff that’s quality and sharp and original and new and better,” he added. “So that’s the goal for us. A lot of times we just do whatever feels right. Our music is a little bit more involved than some stuff, so it’s not the easy cookie-cutter type of stuff… But we stick to our style and keep it fresh, so that’s a good thing. And I like branching off a lot, just because I like singing different styles.”

Cameo reportedly features more than 20,000 celebrities — from musicians and actors to drag queens and from YouTubers to Olympic gold medallists — who, for fees from $1 to $2,500, will offer video messages that mention another person by name. Happy birthday messages are common, as are baby announcements, but some celebrities have also recorded messages for Cameo users looking to quit their jobs or ask a potential date to a prom. The price for a video is determined by the celebrity.

Belladonna charges $54 for each of his Cameo videos for personal use $280 for a video for business use.

Belladonna, whose most recent return to ANTHRAX was officially announced in May 2010, was originally the lead singer of ANTHRAX from 1985 to 1992, and was considered part of the band’s classic lineup (alongside Dan Spitz, Ian, Frank Bello and Charlie Benante), which reunited and toured during 2005 and 2006. His voice was featured on over 10 albums, which reportedly sold eight million copies worldwide.

Metal Department has announced the release of the “Alice Cooper And The Tome Of Madness” 12-inch vinyl single.

“Alice Cooper And The Tome Of Madness” is the perfect companion piece to the official Alice Cooper slot game that Metal Department released in 2021.

The back story of that game is Cooper writing his memoirs in a strange journal (tome), which conjures up stories of other Alice Coopers in different dimensions — and now he must keep writing to simply stay alive!

On this 18-plus-minute-long spoken-word record, you can hear Cooper himself narrate one of these horror stories from “The Tome Of Madness”.

There are two versions of the record available, a plain black vinyl edition and a limited edition of just 500 copies pressed on solid yellow vinyl.

The 12-inch record comes packed in a deluxe gatefold-sleeve with various artwork taken from the game.

Track listing:

Side A:

Tome Of Madness Part 1 (08:43)

Side B:

Tome Of Madness Part 2 (09:29)

The two vinyl editions are exclusively available from Metal Department.

STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis has dropped $505,000 from the asking price of his Massachusetts home.

Lewis bought the 14,000-square-foot Worthington home for for $475,000 in 2001, around the time STAIND’s “Break The Cycle” spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The LP went on to shift four million copies in the U.S. alone. He put the home on the market in August 2020 for $3.5 million, but that price came down on January 19, 2022 to $2.995 million.

According to the listing, the “unique four bedroom, five full bath/ three half bath main house includes an in-law apartment and an Olympic sized indoor/heated, salt water pool. Other special features include a Vantage Lighting System, an indoor/outdoor intercom system, a security system, a large game room and home office, a steam shower and overflow tub in the master bath, a humidification system, and a full house commercial generator. The horse barn includes an apartment as well as a fireproof walk-in vault.”

A video tour of the home is available below.

The listing agent told The Boston Globe in 2020 that Lewis was selling in order to spend more time in Nashville, where he has been focusing on a country music solo career.

Lewis’s new solo album, “Frayed At Both Ends”, will be released on January 28.

Aaron first dipped his toes into country music with his 2011 EP, “Town Line”. His second full-length album, “Sinner”, arrived in the fall of 2016 and was followed by a stand-alone single, “Folded Flag”.

Lewis released his third full-length country album, “State I’m In”, in April 2019 via Big Machine imprint Valory Music.

STAIND has released seven albums since 1995, the latest being 2011’s self-titled effort. The band has had a number of hit songs during its first two decades, including the Top 10 smash “It’s Been Awhile” from the No. 1 album “Break The Cycle”. Follow-up LPs “14 Shades Of Grey” and “Chapter V” also topped the Billboard chart.

STAIND released its first album in nine years, “Live: It’s Been Awhile”, in May 2021 via Yap’em/Alchemy Recordings. The “Live: It’s Been Awhile” album was accompanied by “The Return Of Staind”, a two-part global streaming series in partnership with Danny Wimmer Presents.

STAIND played its first full live show in five years in September 2019 at the Louder Than Life music festival in Louisville, Kentucky.

Last summer, STAIND completed a U.S. tour as the support act for KORN.

LAST IN LINE has returned to the studio to resume recording its third album for a tentative last 2022 release via an as-yet-undisclosed label.

On Wednesday (January 26), LAST IN LINE shared a new photo from the recording studio and captioned it: “Right now, in studio #recording #lastinline #newmusic #recordingstudio”.

Formed in 2012 by bassist Jimmy Bain, drummer Vinny Appice and guitarist Vivian Campbell — Ronnie James Dio’s co-conspirators and co-writers on the “Holy Diver”, “Last In Line” and “Sacred Heart” albums — LAST IN LINE’s initial intent was to celebrate Ronnie James Dio’s early work by reuniting the members of the original DIO lineup. After playing shows that featured a setlist composed exclusively of material from the first three DIO albums, the band decided to move forward and create new music in a similar vein.

LAST IN LINE’s debut album, “Heavy Crown”, was released in February 2016, landing at No. 1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart. Initially, the release had been preceded by tragedy when Bain unexpectedly died at the age of 68 on January 23, 2016. LAST IN LINE, honoring what they knew would be Bain’s wish to keep the band moving, brought in Phil Soussan and committed to sustained touring in support of the album before beginning work on the follow-up release, 2019’s “II”.

Last June, Soussan spoke to Metal-Net.com about the progress of the writing and recording sessions for LAST IN LINE’s third album.

“I’ve been quite motivational with the band,” Phil said. “I’m trying to keep things happening. We wanted to work on a few different aspects [during the pandemic]. And we also had to go about getting a new record deal — we were changing labels — so that’s something we’re in the process of doing, and we’re getting pretty close now. But part of that was writing a third record. So we’ve been hard at work trying to write a third record and even record that third record while we’ve been in different locations around the world. And, obviously, this band works as a unit in every sense of the word, so it’s a real handicap not being able to be in the same room as everybody and trying to make it happen.”

In February 2021, Appice told Metal From The Inside that former DOKKEN and current FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson, who produced both “II” and “Heavy Crown”, is not involved with the upcoming LAST IN LINE album. “We made a change,” he said. “Actually, the guy who mixed the last record, Chris Collier — he’s great; he’s working with KORN — he recorded this record. And we’re kind of producing it ourselves, between all of us.

“Jeff is great — Jeff’s a great producer, and [he has] great ideas and stuff, but we just felt that we could probably do what we wanna do now that we’re a band, we’ve been on the road, and we know what we wanna hear,” he explained. “But it’s coming out great. The stuff sounds fantastic.

“And yeah, I’ve been through a lot with Jeff Pilson. I’ve known him for years. He’s a great guy. He’s like my brother.”

Also in February, Soussan told the “Pat’s Soundbytes Unplugged” podcast about the musical direction of the new LAST IN LINE material: “The songs are another progression from the last album — the difference between ‘Heavy Crown’ and ‘II’, and now ‘II’ and whatever this next album is gonna be called; we don’t know yet, by the way. But it’s definitely evolved even more; it’s gone into even more of an evolution, but we are always trying to keep the characteristics of LAST IN LINE there. I mean, you can’t shake those things — you can’t shake Vinny’s drumming, you can’t shake Vivian’s playing. And I’d like to say the same thing about myself, and, of course, Andrew.”

Some of the early recording sessions for LAST IN LINE’s third album took place in January 2020 at Steakhouse studio in North Hollywood, California.

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DISTURBED singer David Draiman has praised Spotify’s announcement that it is in the process of removing Neil Young’s music two days after Young demanded that his catalog be removed in response to “fake information about vaccines” on the platform.

In a now-deleted post on his web site, Young said the music and podcast platform is “spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe this disinformation spread by them.” “I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” he wrote, according to Rolling Stone. “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.”

“With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, JRE [‘The Joe Rogan Experience’] which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence,” Young continued.

“Spotify has a responsibility to mitigate the spread of misinformation on its platform, though the company presently has no misinformation policy.”

On Wednesday (January 26), a Spotify spokesperson issued a statement saying: “We want all the world’s music and audio content to be available to Spotify users. With that comes great responsibility in balancing both safety for listeners and freedom for creators. We have detailed content policies in place and we’ve removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. We regret Neil’s decision to remove his music from Spotify, but hope to welcome him back soon.”

A short time later, Draiman weighed in on Spotify’s move, tagging the company’s chief executive Daniel Ek on Twitter and writing: “@eldsjal I applaud you and @Spotify for making the RIGHT call, preserving #FreeSpeech and not capitulating to the mob. I may not agree with everything @joerogan or his guests say, but they’re entitled to have the forum to say it.”

THE OFFSPRING guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman also chimed in, writing: “I wouldn’t depend on either Joe Rogan or Neil Young for medical advice. Only Neil young seems to understand why. Even Spotify doesn’t understand why. But that’s not really their job is it? The job is yours, and some of you are really falling down on it.”

Young, who sold 50 percent of his catalog to Hipgnosis Song Fund for a reported $150 million last year, responded to Spotify’s announcement that the removal of his music was taking place, writing on his web site: “I want to thank my partners for standing with me. My deal with Merck Mercuriadis and Hipgnosis began on Jan. 1, 2021. The company Hipgnosis now has part of my publishing, and I am very happy with their support. I want to personally thank Merck and Hipgnosis for standing with me. Losing 60 percent of worldwide streaming income by leaving Spotify is a very big deal, a costly move, but worth it for our integrity and beliefs.

He added that “misinformation about COVID cannot be accepted. I sincerely hope that other artists can make a move, but I can’t really expect that to happen. I did this because I had no choice in my heart. It is who I am. I am not censoring anyone. I am speaking my own truth. I know Daniel Ek, who owns Spotify, a private business. I like Daniel. I wish he had not taken the steps he has taken, because it stopped my music from being shared on his Spotify platform. It stopped us from working together to spread the music. But we are still friends.”

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

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.”

@eldsjal I applaud you and @Spotify for making the RIGHT call, preserving #FreeSpeech and not capitulating to the mob. I may not agree with everything @joerogan or his guests say, but they’re entitled to have the forum to say it.
— David Draiman (@davidmdraiman) January 27, 2022

I wouldn’t depend on either Joe Rogan or Neil Young for medical advice. Only Neil young seems to understand why. Even Spotify doesn’t understand why. But that’s not really their job is it? The job is yours, and some of you are really falling down on it.
— Gnudz fears democracy is in decline. ? (@TheGnudz) January 27, 2022

Yes, I hate Spotify… They are stealing from Artists, while making millions… https://t.co/9m3foF8jpF
— Phil Varone (@REALPHILVARONE) January 27, 2022

“Hey hey, my my, take my songs off Spotify….” – Neil Young ?
— Cristian Machado (@therealcmachado) January 26, 2022

Misinformation about the vaccines is everybody’s problem. Neil Young is doing this because he wants rock and roll to exist and his fans to live. This other guy is a complete jackass who doesn’t give a shit about anybody or anything except himself https://t.co/SgzVBnIwqM
— Sebastian Bach (@sebastianbach) January 25, 2022

The largest three-day rock music and camping event in the U.S. has announced next summer’s lineup. Rock Fest 2022 will feature headliners SHINEDOWN, DISTURBED and EVANESCENCE and will take place on July 14, July 15 and July 16 in Cadott, Wisconsin. MUDVAYNE, HALESTORM and LAMB OF GOD will also perform alongside more than 70 bands over the course of the event.

After industry-wide postponements and cancellations of live events in 2020, Rock Fest was the first rock festival in the nation to return last year. Under the watchful eye of other festivals, and hell-bent on reviving the family reunion attendees have looked forward to for nearly three decades, Rock Fest 2021 turned out to be a sell-out year.

Festival promoter Wade Asher said 2021 gave the team a reinvigorated understanding of the impact of live music.

“While planning for this year’s festival, we stumbled on a new study that said when we watch a concert together, our hearts beat in sync,” Asher said. “We felt that. 2021 reminded us that live music is alive and thriving. We saw so many hugs. Total strangers met and left as family. This festival is so much more than music; it’s a catalyst for healing. Let’s feel it again.”

Wednesday, July 13 (kickoff party exclusive to 3-day ticket holders; see full lineup on poster below):

WARRANT
LITA FORD
FIREHOUSE

Thursday, July 14 (see full lineup on poster below):

DISTURBED
LAMB OF GOD
THEORY OF A DEADMAN
AVATAR
HATEBREED
SPIRITBOX
AYRON JONES

Friday, July 15 (see full lineup on poster below):

EVANESCENCE
HALESTORM
THE PRETTY RECKLESS
NOTHING MORE
BLACK VEIL BRIDES
ESCAPE THE FATE
BUTCHER BABIES

Saturday, July 16 (see full lineup on poster below):

SHINEDOWN
MUDVAYNE
JELLY ROLL
SKILLET
MOTIONLESS IN WHITE
STARSET
SHAMAN’S HARVEST

Individual artist Pit Passes and Single Day General Admission are now on sale. Potential attendees will want to act fast as the following ticket options are sold out: 3-Day Pit Passes, Reserved Lawn, Lure Lock Top Tier Lounge, VIP (sold out in less than 24 hours), VIP Camping and Electric Camping. 3-Day General Admission is $109 and General Camping for the entire weekend on one of the festival’s 7,000 campsites is $110.

Rock Fest is set on 360 acres of picturesque land in Central Wisconsin, featuring more than 70 bands, one massive permanent mainstage and four permanent side stages. Veteran attendees and first-timers alike say Rock Fest is unlike any other live event or rock show they’ve been to, attributing the flow, organization and overall experience to the festival’s #FansFirst mantra. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport makes for convenient travel for fans from all over the globe and non-campers can opt to stay in a participating hotel with daily shuttle service. More than 7,000 campsites offer festival-goers the option to stay on site within easy walking distance to the concert grounds. Guests can expect three days packed with the very best of active and classic rock.

For ticket details and general camping info, visit Rock-Fest.com.