Bruce Dickinson has revealed what he believes is IRON MAIDEN’s most underrated song. Taking to the stage at in Tampa, Florida on Thursday night (January 20) during his North American spoken-word tour, the polymath regaled the crowd with tales from his life in and away from fronting one of the biggest bands in metal.

As reported by Eonmusic’s Eamon O’Neill, Dickinson was welcomed by a huge round of applause and wasted no time in delving straight into his life story, from his unconventional upbringing to his unlikely and oftentimes hilarious public school years.

Recalling his time with NWOBHM contenders SAMSON — whom he fronted from 1979 to 1981 — he quipped: “We made every mistake it’s possible to make in the music industry — in a concentrated time.”

Going on to talk about key events in his career with IRON MAIDEN, including the band’s triumphant headline slot at Brazil’s Rock In Rio festival in 1985, he also touched on his lack of contribution to the creation of the “Somewhere In Time” album. Recalling the writing sessions for the 1986 set, he admitted: “I was in a weird place. I was ready for the funny farm.”

It was during the fan-submitted question and answer section that the Ed Force One pilot was asked what he thought was MAIDEN’s most underrated track. “I’m a really big fan of ‘Total Eclipse’, he said, without hesitation, referring to the B-side to his debut single with the band, 1982’s “Run To The Hills”. Elaborating, he explained that the track “Gangland” was originally slated to appear on the flipside. However, the band had a change of heart. “That sounds great. This is so good that we can’t do it as the B-side,” he explained. Expanding on “Gangland”, which is the penultimate track on the “The Number Of The Beast’ album, Bruce divulged: “‘Gangland’ went on the album, and we actually forgot to mix the guitar solos. There’s a bit in there, and there’s no guitar solo. To this day, I think we forgot.”

Read the entire report from Eonmusic.

Dickinson kicked off his two-month North American spoken-word tour last Mondsay night (January 17) at Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Dickinson is considered one of the world’s most storied musicians. Aside from decades spent delivering high-octane performances with his larger-than-life persona in IRON MAIDEN, Bruce has lived an extraordinary off-stage existence too. A true polymath, his accomplishments include: pilot and airline captain, aviation entrepreneur, beer brewer, motivational speaker, film scriptwriter, twice-published novelist and Sunday Times best-selling author, radio presenter, TV actor, sports commentator and international fencer… to name but a few.

IRON MAIDEN’s 17th studio album, “Senjutsu”, was released in September via BMG. The band’s first LP in six years was recorded in 2019 in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris.

A short clip from the end of An Evening with Bruce Dickinson in Tampa, FL

Posted by Jerry Cardenas on Friday, January 21, 2022

An Evening with Bruce Dickinson! ??

Posted by Wayne Shovlin on Thursday, January 20, 2022

What an AMAZING experience it was to see and hear Bruce Dickinson last night at the Tampa Theatre!

I’ve only know him…

Posted by Jason Stallworth Music on Friday, January 21, 2022

Last night I went and saw An Evening with Bruce Dickinson in Tampa, FL and was blown away. Such a funny and…

Posted by Bharat Dass on Friday, January 21, 2022

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During an appearance on “Put Up Your Dukes”, the new podcast hosted by ex-EXODUS singer Rob Dukes, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt was asked if original EXODUS guitarist Kirk Hammett, who has been a member of METALLICA for the past 39 years, was involved in the songwriting for any of the material that ended up on EXODUS’s classic debut album, 1985’s “Bonded By Blood”. “There were riffs that I had written while Kirk was still in the band, and he tried to adapt them, tried to change ’em a little bit — the old, ‘I changed it a little bit. I’m a co-writer on this riff,'” Holt recalled (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “And that was, like, two riffs, I think. And the rest of ’em were written after he left. We never used a Kirk Hammett riff, ever, until [2004’s] ‘Tempo Of The Damned’ [album] when we recorded [the early EXODUS song] ‘Impaler’.”

Explaining that “the first two [EXODUS] songs finished post-Kirk Hammett were ‘Strike Of The Beast’ and ‘No Love’,” Holt continued: “The biggest talent I have, if you wanna call it a talent, is my fucking memory. I can remember fucking everything. I remember showing him… I can picture it as a film, showing Kirk the riff to ‘Strike Of The Beast’, and I can picture it as if I’m watching it on a film — in the jam room, me in my spot where I played him [the riff] and him wanting to change the higher note to a lower note; I remember it all as if I’m watching a movie of it. I remember all of it — every last minute of it. I remember details from fucking most meaningless shit.”

The original lineup of EXODUS consisted of guitarists Hammett and Tim Agnello, drummer Tom Hunting and vocalist Keith Stewart. Holt joined the band in 1981, while Kirk left two years before “Bonded By Blood” saw the light of day.

Although EXODUS rarely gets mentioned alongside the so-called “Big Four” of 1980s thrash metal — METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — “Bonded By Blood” inspired the likes of TESTAMENT, DEATH ANGEL, VIO-LENCE and many others to launch their careers and is considered one of the most influential thrash metal albums of all time.

Back in 2018, Kirk spoke about the fact that riffs from songs by EXODUS, “Die By His Hand” and “Impaler”, found their way into “Creeping Death” and “Trapped Under Ice”, from METALLICA’s “Ride The Lightning” album. “What I think happened was when Lars [, METALLICA drummer] and James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman] were thinking about getting rid of Dave [Mustaine], our sound guy, Mark Whitaker — who was EXODUS’ manager — gave them EXODUS’ demos,” Kirk said. “I think ‘Die By His Hand’ might have caught their ears. So when they were writing ‘Creeping Death’, they went, ‘Great. ‘Die By His Hand’. Put it right there.’ It was definitely not me going, ‘I have a riff here in this EXODUS song, and it needs to be here in this METALLICA song.’ By the way, I wrote that ‘Die By His Hand’ riff when I was, like, 16 years old.”

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During a January 21 question-and-answer session on his YouTube channel, former SOULFLY guitarist Marc Rizzo reflected on his participation in a tour where former SEPULTURA members Max Cavalera and Igor Cavalera performed select tracks from the band’s seminal “Beneath The Remains” and “Arise” albums. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I worked very, very hard to get prepared for that tour. That was not easy to learn those old-school SEPULTURA songs. A lot of ’em I knew, but I really wanted to show a lot of respect to Andreas [Kisser, SEPULTURA guitarist]. I did not want his guitar solos or his riffing to be different than what it was on the record. People paid good money to see ‘Beneath’ and ‘Arise’. Speaking for myself, I wanted to play just like the record. I wanted to put on a great performance and pay homage to Andreas. That was really what excited me. Andreas has always been one of my favorite lead guitar players and I really wanted to pay homage, show my respect to what a great guitar player Andreas is. So when it was time to learn all those solos, I learned ’em by ear. It took me about two or three weeks to really try to learn those solos as close as I could get ’em, ’cause there’s really not a lot of tab out there. And I did it, I think. I was very excited.”

He continued: “That was one of my favorite tours I ever did because that’s my favorite era of SEPULTURA… That was really, really an important tour for me because that’s my favorite era of SEPULTURA, was ‘Beneath The Remains’ and ‘Arise’, specifically because I think that’s Andreas at his best in the early SEPULTURA years. Although I do think he’s gotten better — that new SEPULTURA record [‘Quadra’] I think is amazing. I think it’s just as good as anything they put out back in the day. And I think it showcases how great Andreas has gotten better; he keeps getting better.”

Asked by one fan if he has talked to Andreas since leaving SOULFLY, Marc said: “No. We are friends. I have run into him from time to time. He’s always been very cool with me, every time I’ve talked to Andreas. And obviously I’ve always been very excited to talk to him also. We do have mutual friends in Brazil. I know I’ve relayed messages to our mutual friends. And I hope maybe one day I can do something with Andreas because, again, hes’ one of my favorite parts of what was SEPULTURA and was a very big influence on me. Andreas was just as important to me as Dimebag [PANTERA] or Kirk Hammett [METALLICA] or any of the thrash metal shredders. He was very important to me and I was very influenced by him.”

When another fan mentioned that some of the musicians involved with the aforementioned “Beneath The Remains” / “Arise” tour looked “exhausted” while performing the material, Marc said: “That’s what a lot of people were saying that whole tour — people looked exhausted on stage. Listen, you’ve gotta show up prepared, man. These tickets are not free — I always say that — and we were going to some countries that people don’t make a lot of money, like in Russia, I’m assuming, in certain cities, and in certain cities down in South America. You’ve gotta come out and give a hundred percent, and a lot of people were saying what you just said — that some people looked exhausted on stage. I know I wasn’t, man. I came out guns blazing, I was super excited to be there, and I worked very hard; I put about a month of rehearsal, every day, to prepare for that tour.

“Listen, man, put your money on me, guys. I come to show up and give a hundred percent. You come to my gigs, you’re gonna get a performance that is a hundred percent. I promise you that.”

In August, SOULFLY parted ways with Rizzo due to personal differences. A permanent replacement guitarist has yet to be announced. FEAR FACTORY’s Dino Cazares played guitar for SOULFLY on the band’s last U.S. tour which took place in August and September.

Shortly after Rizzo’s exit from SOULFLY, Max told Metal Kaoz that Marc has been spewing out “lies and bullshit” in some of his recent interviews regarding his departure from the group. “All these accusations — it hurts,” he said. “It hurts to hear. After everything that we did for him, which was a lot — we put him on all the records and always took really good care of him, always really, really gave good treatment to him. To hear him backstabbing us like that, it’s just not nice. He’s obviously trying to get fans to be against me and make him the victim… It just sucks to hear all that. It definitely hurts me when I hear all these accusations that I know are lies and bullshit; it’s all fabricated by his crazy mind. I don’t know. It’s a strange situation.”

He added: “I don’t want to turn this into an ugly thing. I don’t wanna talk bad about him; I really don’t. Of course I don’t like those accusations, and it’s bullshit, but he has the right to say whatever. But I think we treated him really good through all those years. We put him on the map pretty much. When he joined the band, not many people knew him. Just a little bit of gratitude would have been nice. Because even on ‘Max Trax’ [Cavalera’s twice-weekly Internet video series in which he discusses the inspiration for many of the songs spanning his nearly 40-year music career], when I mentioned that I fired him, I thanked him for the 18 years of SOULFLY, and I said good luck on his projects. I’m not bitter. I don’t wanna be a bitter guy.”

Rizzo joined SOULFLY in 2004, and has since 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”.

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MASTODON drummer Brann Dailor has revealed that he contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, immediately after the band’s recently completed U.S. tour with OPETH. “Right when I got home from tour, I had COVID — like the day I got home,” he told Art Of Rock in a new interview (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “I tested positive. I got pretty sick, actually. I was sick for a couple of weeks. I was down and out. But I guess the good news of it was it didn’t happen while we were on tour and it happened when I got home. So I was, like, ‘Oh, I’m sick.’ And I had the opportunity to be sick and I didn’t have to get on stage and play and stuff, which I’ve done with the flu many times; it’s one of the worst feelings ever, but you’ve gotta bring the music to the people. It doesn’t matter how you feel — do it.”

According to Dailor, he has played a number of shows in the past when he didn’t feel a hundred percent healthy. “Many times I’d be laying backstage, on one of the couches backstage, just feeling like death, thinking to myself, ‘I don’t know how I’m gonna pull this off,’ and then getting up there,” he said. “I’ve had some of my best shows when I’ve been sick as a dog. So I don’t know what happens there. But something else takes over. Maybe a couple of NyQuils [cough, cold and flu medicine] and you’re feeling like you’re out of your mind and you get up there and just play the drums and your body takes over. I don’t recommend it.”

Dailor went on to say that MASTODON is planning on returning to the road later this year. “We will announce something soon,” he said. “We’re just waiting for it to completely solidify and come all together. But, yeah, there’ll be some dates coming up soon.

“It’s a strange world, isn’t it?” he continued. “It’s been a strange time. Nothing’s really stable right now, unfortunately. We kind of thought that, ‘Okay, we’re back. Everything’s back, right?’ But it’s, like, hold your horses, I guess. But I think that things are moving in the right direction. We should have a nice, big announcement soon for another tour in the States.”

This past November, MASTODON was announced as one of the “Best Metal Performance” nominees at the 64th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on April 3, 2022, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The progressive metallers were nominated for their song “Pushing The Tides”, the first single from their latest album, “Hushed And Grim”, which came out in October.

The follow-up to 2017’s “Emperor Of Sand”, “Hushed And Grim”was recorded at West End Sound, which is located inside of Ember City, the rehearsal facility that members of MASTODON manage in Atlanta. Helming the effort was Grammy-winning producer/mixer/engineer David Bottrill, who has previously worked with MUSE, DREAM THEATER and TOOL, among many others.

The “Hushed And Grim” artwork was created by longtime MASTODON collaborator Paul Romano, who also designed the sleeves for “Crack The Skye”, “Blood Mountain”, “Leviathan” and more.

“Emperor Of Sand” debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200. That LP was nominated for the 2018 Grammy Award for “Best Rock Album,” and its opening track, “Sultan’s Curse”, won the Grammy Award for “Best Metal Performance.”

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The Riff Crew has uploaded professionally filmed video footage of OBITUARY’s January 18, 2020 concert at Max Watts in Melbourne, Australia. The band’s set included a performance of the classic OBITUARY album “Cause Of Death” in its entirety.

Featured songs:

01:54 Redneck Stomp
05:51 Sentence Day
08:40 A Lesson In Vengeance
12:53 Straight To Hell

“Cause Of Death” album

17:56 Infected
23:50 Body Bag
30:36 Chopped In Half
36:15 Circle Of The Tyrants
41:52 Dying
47:13 Find The Arise
50:31 Cause Of Death
56:55 Memories Remain
1:01:32 Turned Inside Out

Encore:

1:09:52 I’m In Pain
1:14:35 Trevor Chugs!
1:15:13 A Dying World
1:18:33 Slowly We Rot

Last March, OBITUARY frontman John Tardy told France’s United Rock Nations that the band has used some of the downtime during the coronavirus pandemic to work on material for a new studio album. “We’ve definitely been working on new tunes, and we’ve been taking our time,” he said. “We didn’t feel like releasing [a new album] now in the middle of the pandemic when you can’t go on tour and support it is not what we wanted to do, so we’re in no hurry. But by the time next year comes around, we’re gonna be hitting the road again. We’re getting tours set up, and we will be releasing another album next year before we hit the road and start touring again. So we are currently working on new material.”

Asked what fans can expect from the follow-up to OBITUARY’s 2017 self-titled album, John said: “I think it’s just gonna sound like OBITUARY. [Laughs] You know us — we’re kind of cavemen; we don’t like to evolve too much. We like to change it up and do a little here and there, but we’re getting too old to change too much, I think. So as long as it’s heavy and pounding, then that’s what you can expect.”

Last October, Decibel Books announced the publication of “Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary”, the fully authorized biography of OBITUARY.

David E. Gehlke — author of “Damn The Machine: The Story Of Noise Records” and “No Celebration: The Official Story Of Paradise Lost” — provides an unprecedented look at the death metal legends through all-new, in-depth interviews with bandmembers past and present, recording engineers, scene contemporaries and music industry veterans who’ve worked directly with the band throughout OBITUARY’s nearly four-decade career.

Packed with hundreds of rare and never-before-seen photos, as well as a foreword from Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, SEPULTURA), the 328-page hardcover “Turned Inside Out: The Official Story Of Obituary” is exclusively available for pre-order now via decibelmagazine.com. Copies are expected to ship in late January.

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In a brand new interview with Meltdown of Detroit radio station WRIF, former SKID ROW and SAIGON KICK drummer Phil Varone recalled a disastrous audition he had in 2000 to play in Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Rachel Bolan from SKID ROW, him and I had a band called PRUNELLA SCALES. So we did a record in ’97. And then in ’98, I decided that I’m just gonna call it a day and buy a restaurant, which was like… That was the worst damn decision ever. And [I] lost everything from that. I took every last penny I had and put it in this restaurant and that went under ’cause I didn’t know what I was doing. It’s like life lesson after life lesson.

“In 2000, I moved out to L.A. ’cause I figured, ‘I’ve gotta be out in something. I’m gonna give it a shot.’ And I was living over at John Corabi’s [ex-MÖTLEY CRÜE] house. I heard that Ozzy was auditioning drummers. So I called Vinnie Paul — the late, great Vinnie Paul from PANTERA — and I go, ‘Vin, can you get me into this audition?’ They were only auditioning a handful of guys. And Vinnie calls Sharon Osbourne and gets me an audition. Incredible, right? I go down there. Crabby [Corabi] comes with me for support. And boy, I don’t know what happened, but it was like I never played drums before in my life. It was incredible. I got Popeye arms, which means I just tensed up so bad, I couldn’t hold the drum sticks. So I was probably like a monkey back there — I could not play. And it was all the great songs — ‘Crazy Train’ and all the stuff that we played as kids. And it was brutal.

“Do you know, till the day Vinnie died, and I saw him two weeks before, he’d bust my balls about that damn audition,” Phil continued. “Every time I saw him, he’d go, ‘Dude, what the hell happened with that?’ ‘Cause Sharon Osbourne called him and went, ‘Vinnie, what is this? A joke? This guy can’t play for anything.’ She got mad at him ’cause she thought that he was doing a joke on her, like playing a joke. That’s how I bad I was. And Crabby — God love him — he was, like, ‘Ahhh…’ I figured he can help me ’cause he auditioned for MÖTLEY. He was giving me pointers. Yeah, it was bad. I knew when I walked out of there and Crabby was, like, ‘Ahhh…’ But soon after I joined SKID ROW. So it all ended up okay.”

Varone joined SKID ROW in 2000 — about four years after singer Sebastian Bach parted ways with the group. Four years later, Phil exited SKID ROW and the music business to pursue acting and stand-up comedy. During this time, he produced and starred in the feature-length documentary “Waking Up Dead”, released in 2007. In recent years, Varone garnered worldwide attention on VH1’s hit show “Sex Rehab With Dr. Drew” and “Strange Sex” on the Discovery channel. In April 2013, Riverdale Publishing released Phil’s first book called “Un-Philtered : Real Life On and Off the Rock ‘N’ Roll Tour Bus”.

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Eastern European emotional metalcore upstarts DRAG ME OUT, led by Denis “Stoff” Shaforostov, the charismatic frontman and former singer for MAKE ME FAMOUS and ASKING ALEXANDRIA, have released their brand new single, “Bullets In My Teeth”. The track is taken from the band’s second album, “Demons Away”, which will be released on May 6 via their own label imprint Lödereih Music.

“Bullets In My Teeth” is an anthem for the heartbroken and the insecure state of mind that many people find themselves in today.

Denis comments on the new single: “‘Bullets In My Teeth’ not only marks our return to the heavy metal fray after splitting with our longtime label Sumerian Records but it is also a very personal song for me… Relationships of any kind, whether they be with your partner, bandmates or with your fans — it is no easy task. It can make you or break you… When I wrote this song, I was definitely breaking down. I hope it will help someone get back up like it did for me.”

“Demons Away” is part one of a three-part concept album and starts off where DRAG ME OUT’s previous release, “Pressure”, left off. It contains 12 new songs filled with huge chunky riffs and punchy rhythms rushing over tight grooves with just enough soaring melodies and infectious hooks to start a mosh pit on the dance floor or in your living room.

Denis states about “Demons Away”: “It is soaked in the paranormal vibes. Your spiritual journey begins here and now. Our main purpose is to shed the light on the things that really make you feel bad, anxious, weak or wrong. It is our call for you to face the pain and explore it at its energetic core as the truth lies deeper than it might seem. My demons truly showed me that they are in fact always standing somewhere in between my perception of life and the ultimate truth about our world.”

“Demons Away” track listing:

01. Crystal Arms
02. With A Thunder We Rise
03. Blind & Blurred
04. Bullets In My Teeth
05. Cuz It’s Meant To Be
06. I Swear I’m Not OK
07. Hymn For The Wicked
08. Let Me In
09. My Mistakes
10. No Feelings
11. The Watch Of The Buried
12. Save My Life

DRAG ME OUT is:

Denis “Stoff” Shaforostov – Vocals
Stas Belove – Guitars
Kir Medvedev – Bass
Chris Nokia – Drums

Denis recorded one album with ASKING ALEXANDRIA, “The Black”, before exiting the band in October 2016. Guitarist Ben Bruce said in a video message that Shaforostov had “just stopped talking to us.”

He added: “When Denis first joined the band, people within the music industry and fans alike, they all told us these different things about Denis’s past, and we got many warnings, and we said, that’s his past — forgive and forget; we don’t know any of that side of things. So we gave him the benefit of the doubt, and, you know, there’s no smoke without fire, and I guess we found that out the hard way.”

Shaforostov has not spoken out about his departure from ASKING ALEXANDRIA, although he did tweet at one point that he “left AA because I can’t be in a touring band at this point in my life. There’s no drama and I don’t want to be a part of it.”

Singer Danny Worsnop rejoined ASKING ALEXANDRIA in the fall of 2016.

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KISS frontman Paul Stanley, who turned 70 on Thursday, January 20, has thanked fans for their well wishes and support.

On Friday, the singer and rhythm guitarist, who was born Stanley Eisen in New York City, took to his social media to write: “Thank You For All Your Kind Birthday Wishes.

“In recent years I’ve started to see my birthdays as a time for me to reflect on the past year and assess my life and actions rather than purely celebrating my making it through another year (which frankly I had little to do with). Did I tell my family and dear friends that I love them and did I show them? Did I embrace people with acceptance, tolerance and giving some the benefit of the doubt? Did I appreciate the daily gifts and miracles around me? I’m a work in progress but am always striving to do better. I’m doing pretty good I think. My birthday has so much more value for me with it being less about cake and presents and more about who I am in this big world. Thanks for being a big part of this last year.

“Always grateful, Paul”.

Stanley was born with a facial deformity, microtia, which prevented his right ear from forming properly and left him deaf on the right side. He later said that his parents had their own problems and did not acknowledge or provide support for Paul’s difficulties.

Stanley said it took him decades into adulthood and plenty of therapy to help conquer his lack of self-esteem.

Stanley’s father, William Eisen, died last November at the age of 101.

KISS kicked off its second farewell tour, dubbed “End Of The Road”, in January 2019. The global trek is expected to wrap in early 2023.

pic.twitter.com/xTKUrKlbEV
— Paul Stanley (@PaulStanleyLive) January 21, 2022
]

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Double Homestyle presents maximum hop flavor without any bitterness, similar to the effect achieved when using lupulin powder, but with zero bitterness
The post No Corporate Beer Reviews: Double Homestyle appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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