JOURNEY drummer Deen Castronovo was unable to join his bandmates for their performance at of “Any Way You Want It” and “Don’t Stop Believin'” in New York City’s Times Square for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest” after testing positive for COVID-19. Filling in for him was his longtime tech Steve Toomey.

Asked by a fan on Instagram why Deen didn’t play with JOURNEY at last night’s event, guitarist Neal Schon responded: “Covid”.

Castronovo appeared to be looking forward to playing with JOURNEY in New York. On Thursday (December 30), he shared an Instagram photo of him behind his kit and added the following caption: “Hope you all had an AWESOME Holiday ! Off to NYC?to perform with @journeymusicofficial for @rockineve! Who will be ringing in 2022 with us?!”

Castronovo returned to JOURNEY in July and has been performing with the band ever since, initially sharing the drum duties in the group with Narada Michael Walden. Walden, bassist Randy Jackson and keyboardist/backing singer Jason Derlatka all joined JOURNEY in 2020 following the band’s acrimonious split with drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory. Jackson — who previously played with JOURNEY during the mid-1980s — was forced to miss all the recent gigs because he is reportedly recovering from back surgery.

Filling in on bass for JOURNEY for the band’s recent Las Vegas residency at The Theater at Virgin Hotels was Todd Jensen, a veteran musician who has played for various artists, including the bands SEQUEL, HARDLINE and HARLOW, as well as David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Perry, Alice Cooper and Paul Rodgers.

Prior to the residency, Jackson had been replaced at JOURNEY’s 2021 shows by Marco Mendoza, who had played several shows in 2019 with Castronovo and JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon under the “Neal Schon’s Journey Through Time” banner.

In March 2021, Castronovo revealed that he was on opiates for over a year while waiting to get his back surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 57-year-old musician, who had been sober for nearly five years after being fired from JOURNEY, shared his ordeal in an Instagram post. He wrote: “Opiates are evil and the withdrawals are murder.”

Deen was dismissed from JOURNEY in 2015 following years of alcohol and drug abuse that led to him being sentenced to four years’ probation for a variety of charges involving his now-wife.

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THE OBSESSED frontman Scott “Wino” Weinrich has doubled down on his claim that COVID-19 was created as a “depopulation tool.”

Back in August, Wino took to his social media to fuel the conspiracy theory that coronavirus is a genetically engineered bioweapon that U.S. researchers helped create, and that thousands of doctors, scientists and elected leaders are apparently conspiring to hide the truth. Wino went on to claim that he had done extensive research through YouTube, scientific publications, journals and lectures, and insisted that the evidence points to the the virus existing and being weaponized.

Weinrich discussed his controversial COVID-19 views in a new interview with Shawn Ratches of Laughingmonkeymusic. He said: “I had COVID. So it totally exists; I’m not denying that it exists. And I’m not anti-vaxx either. But we know for a fact… You can go right on the Moderna web site,” he continued, referencing the biotech company behind one of the three federally cleared COVID-19 vaccines. “It’s not a vaccination. It’s not a vaccination by any standards. It is a platform. That’s what they say on their web site. So anybody can take it from there.

“When the government comes out and says there’s no federal response to COVID, what the fuck does that mean? What that means is that CDC protocol prohibits the use of anything that will cure you.

“No matter what anybody says, I know what I know, and it all points to a sinister depopulation agenda. And I don’t give a fuck what anybody thinks. That’s what I believe.”

Wino went on to imply that he has no plans to get the COVID-19 vaccine anytime soon. “If I’m gonna stick an injection in my body, I wanna get high,” he laughed.

Like other COVID-19 vaccine-hesitant individuals, Wino said that he considers himself a critical thinker who puts a high premium on having done his own research and distrusts authorities or mainstream experts.

“I often wonder what is it about me or about other people that just makes me have this intense curiosity where it makes me wanna dig deep,” he said. “I don’t really understand what that is. I think maybe it has something to do with genetic imprint — possibly. I don’t know.”

Despite Weinrich’s claim to the contrary, Moderna does refer to its COVID-19 vaccine as a “vaccine.” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed safety data from clinical trials and granted emergency use authorization for the vaccine.

Although Moderna’s web site compares the mRNA science in its vaccine to an “operating system,” the phrase is used in a metaphorical sense, not a literal one. It says: “Recognizing the broad potential of mRNA science, we set out to create an mRNA technology platform that functions very much like an operating system on a computer. It is designed so that it can plug and play interchangeably with different programs. In our case, the ‘program’ or ‘app’ is our mRNA drug — the unique mRNA sequence that codes for a protein.”

When Weinrich canceled his appearance at the Psycho Las Vegas festival last August, the doom metal godfather and THE OBSESSED founder, who was scheduled to play an acoustic set at the event, said that “we are under the authoritarian cloak of a small cadre of unelected so called ‘elite’ who are beyond rich and consequently consider themselves above the common man. This virus I believe was created as a depopulation tool, and the fear associated with it as a means to subjugate and enslave you and I, the common people.”

Wino and the rest of THE OBSESSED originally hit the road with THE SKULL in July but THE SKULL was forced to drop off the tour the following month after that band’s lead singer, fellow doom metal legend Eric Wagner (formerly of TROUBLE), was hospitalized for COVID pneumonia. Wagner, who was reportedly not vaccinated against COVID-19, died days later at the age of 62.

Wino has dealt with drug abuse throughout the years and famously got busted with meth in Norway in 2014 while touring with SAINT VITUS.

In the 17-minute video below, DEEP PURPLE drummer Ian Paice shares some of his personal practice footage and talks about how he gets ready for recording albums.

Some consider Paice to be the forefather of today’s rock drumming. Such hits as “Space Truckin'”, “Hush”, “Fireball” and “Smoke On The Water” prove that Ian was helping create a genre that would last many years to come. In fact, throughout DEEP PURPLE’s long career, which has seen numerous changes among the other personnel, he is the only drummer the band has ever had. When the group dissolved in 1976, Ian joined PURPLE vocalist David Coverdale to form WHITESNAKE. After a short hiatus, DEEP PURPLE reunited in 1984 for the “Perfect Strangers” release and has not stopped performing since.

In 2020, Paice was asked during a question-and-answer session with fans if he has ever felt the need to play double-bass drums. He responded: “Well, not really. The only time I ever really did it was on ‘Fireball’ because it added something to the track. The way the riff rolled along, it needed that power of two kicks.

“When I was growing up, the only guy who actually used two bass drums that I knew about was the wonderful Louie Bellson,” he continued. “And even he had not really what you’d call mastered it. There are some wonderful young drummers around these days who’ve got the two-bass-drum thing down to an incredibly fine art. But I’ve always preferred to have to think in patterns.

“Sometimes with the bass drums, it’s not where you put the note, it’s where you don’t put the note, and that makes it work,” he explained.

DEEP PURPLE’s latest studio effort, an album of covers titled “Turning To Crime”, came out on November 26 via earMUSIC. The LP contains DEEP PURPLE’s versions of great rock classics and musical jewels — including songs originally recorded by Bob Dylan, FLEETWOOD MAC, Bob Seger, CREAM and THE YARDBIRDS — carefully chosen by each member of the band.

SHINEDOWN has released a short teaser video for the band’s upcoming seventh studio album.

The 42-second clip, which can be seen below, was accompanied by the message: “So it begins… #nowiknowmyabcs… Do you? #SD7”.

Last month, SHINEDOWN singer Brent Smith 95.9 The Rat’s Carl Craft about the new LP’s more “stripped-down” approach: “We wanted to push everything to the front. And what I mean by that is we’ve proven that we can make these records that there’s a lot of musicianship involved in it, and we have layered our records over the years because we love music and we love sound and we try to make really cinematic records. So with that, you have a lot of instrumentation that is not just drums, bass, guitar and vocals — we use orchestras, we use a lot of synthesizers, we use a lot of techniques that… We don’t believe in… Don’t tie your hands up when you’re making a record. Make the record that you wanna make. And ultimately, though, what we wanted to do with this album was make it just as ferocious as the other records but not utilizing so much of some of the style that we’ve done in the past with layering and layering guitars, adding lots of synth beds, stacking the vocals.”

He continued: “I come from the Freddie Mercury school when it comes to vocals and layering and backgrounds and things of that nature because I try — I say ‘try’ — try to use my voice as an instrument. But this is about really less is more. So the majority of this record is authentically drums, bass, guitar. There are piano songs; there’s two really, really very intense-subject-matter piano songs that are gonna be in SHINEDOWN seven. But we wanted to make a real rock record, we wanted to make a real record where we focus on just making sure that the band is being heard the way the band needs to be heard. So, not a lot of layering. It doesn’t mean it’s any less powerful; it’s just we’re not dealing with a lot of stacks. We’re just putting things left to right stereo, pushing everything to the front. The vocals aren’t layered a ton — not a lot of effects on the vocals, so not a lot of delays and reverbs and things like that. A lot of the vocals on the record are dry and kind of right up in your face.”

Smith also talked about the lyrical themes covered on the new SHINEDOWN album, saying they were inspired at least in part by the ongoing pandemic and resulting impact on the community, residents and businesses.

“Going through everything that the world went through last year, and we wrote the majority of the record last year, and this year, we couldn’t turn a blind eye to everything that was going on,” he said. “And we talk on this record, and we express on this record — we’re not trying to dance around certain subject matter. We’re trying to be very honest and very real. In a lot of ways, this is a very humanitarian record.”

Asked if SHINEDOWN will “piss people off” with some of the lyrical positions that are taken on the upcoming LP, Smith said: “Possibly. But the thing about it is I don’t necessarily think it’s about pissing people off; it’s about understanding what we all went through but where we need to go now. I think that it gets lost. It’s never supposed to be about… And I say this because I’m being very, very bold and very honest about it. This country, it’s not called the Divided States Of America; it’s called the United States Of America, and we want people to understand that that comes down to the people; that comes down to us. And us being able to not only work with each other, to grow with one another. But when you have certain people in power that do not have your best interests in mind, you have to stand up and make your voice heard. When I see what’s going on in regards to people’s freedom of speech and it being censored and people being pushed into a corner because of their opinions and what have you. You need to be able to have constructive conversations with each other in order to get actual action to happen for positive change.”

Regarding the first single from SHINEDOWN’s seventh album, which is expected to arrive later this month, Brent said: “It honestly addresses everything that society has dealt with from a planetary platform, if you will — not just here in the U.S., but the whole world — what the last 18 months has been like, and, at least in our opinion, how we’ve gotta move forward.

“Listen, the record… We’re talking about things that we’ve never talked about before,” he revealed. “We’re opening up the conversation into different subject matters that SHINEDOWN has never addressed. We have the full support of our label, our management and hopefully our fanbase, whether they’ve been there from day one or they’re just kind of finding out who we are. But it’s a record that I think some people will consider controversial, I think some people will consider to be very provocative, especially for SHINEDOWN, but it’s also something that we feel that it is very important and that it is necessary… Don’t get me wrong either — there’s a lot of triumph on this record, but there’s also a lot of having to take a step back and go, ‘What’s really going on? And how do we stop it from happening if it’s going to be something negative on the human race as a whole?’ Our society, the way that we live with one another, we share this planet with a lot of different organisms and creatures. It’s not just about us. It’s important that everybody really takes a step back and doesn’t always make it about them. We have to work together — like, all of us; we’ve really gotta start working together with each other and really creating a positive change forward for not only society but also for this beautiful planet that we’ve been given.”

The follow-up to 2018’s “Attention Attention”, which is tentatively due this spring, was recorded in part at a new studio in Charleston, South Carolina spearheaded by the group’s bassist and producer Eric Bass.

In October, SHINEDOWN announced its 2022 North American tour, “Shinedown Live In Concert”. Kicking off in San Francisco on January 26, the upcoming 22-date outing will see the acclaimed quartet travel throughout the West Coast, Canada, and more, with stops in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Las Vegas, Seattle, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. POP EVIL and AYRON JONES will support on select dates.

SHINEDOWN’s film “Attention Attention”, a cinematic experience of the band’s 2018 studio album of the same name, premiered worldwide in September.

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Vocalist Dani “Filth” Davey of veteran British extreme metallers CRADLE OF FILTH says that he and his bandmates have “many exciting things planned for 2022.”

The 48-year-old musician looked ahead to the upcoming year while sharing a year-end message via Instagram. He wrote: “Firstly, in this festive address, I’d like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. May it be a productive and fruitfully delicious one for each & every one of you!

“Despite 2021 being another year of the plague & not seeing much action in the live department, it did bare witness to the release of our new album ‘Existence Is Futile’. It also enabled us to partially tour the album in the States, where we played the two video tracks alongside fan-faves, as we brought our worldwide tour of ‘Cruelty And The Beast’ to a head.

“COF also undertook our anticipated livestream event in May. Thanks for your patience with this, despite the constant shifting of the goalposts. And extra thanks goes to all the crew and production teams that made the monster happen, you all went above & beyond the call of duty & we can’t wait to unleash the new one early in 2022 (info about this to follow).

“Elsewhere, some live events did go on regardless despite the voracity of the virus, one of which was the impressive Bloodstock which was attended by a little over 20k excited Metal fans who were absolutely gagging at the bit to be back at a big live show after so long.

“And of course we played another big production show on All Hallow’s Eve at the London Roundhouse, which really was a phantasmagorically fiery performance. We f**king loved it! And it proved such a befitting end to what was essentially a shallow year in terms of playing live, but such a productive one for many other aspects of the band.

“We as a band have many exciting things planned for 2022, not least of all the continuation of our Incendium comic book series & toys & our ever expanding drinks line, but also plenty of potential live dates/ collaborations/ aberrations/ trinkets & baubles/ strange darksome exotica and above all else, music!

“So it leaves me now not only to thank our wonderful management team at Oracle; the incredible Crew; all the lovely people who look after us (from legal to general); the record label, the music press, fellow-bands & inmates and fellow bandmates… But also you guys for keeping the twisted faith alive & supporting COF throughout all these trying times.

“Your fiend… Dani Filth”.

CRADLE OF FILTH’s 13th studio album, “Existence Is Futile”, was released on October 22. The LP was pieced together in isolation at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk with studio guru Scott Atkins (DEVILMENT, BENEDICTION, VADER). Horror icon Doug “Pinhead” Bradley makes a welcome return to the CRADLE fold, lending his dulcet tones to the band’s most politically astute song to date, the epic “Suffer Our Dominion” as well as the album bonus track “Sisters Of The Mist”, which is the conclusion to the “Her Ghost In The Fog” trilogy that started over 20 years ago on the infamous and classic “Midian”.

Eight months ago, CRADLE OF FILTH announced the addition of keyboardist Anabelle Iratni to the band’s ranks.

Iratni, who previously played alongside Filth in DEVILMENT, as well as her own group VEILE, made her live debut with CRADLE OF FILTH on May 12, 2021 during the band’s livestreamed concert.

Anabelle joined CRADLE OF FILTH as the replacement for Lindsay Schoolcraft, who announced her departure from the group in February 2020 after a seven-year run.

CRADLE OF FILTH is:

Dani Filth – Vocals
Richard Shaw – Guitar
Ashok – Guitar
Daniel Firth – Bass
Martin “Marthus” Skaroupka – Drums
Anabelle Iratni – Keyboards & backing vocals

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DISTURBED members David Draiman and John Moyer, THE OFFSPRING guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman and ANTHRAX bassist Frank Bello are among the rockers who have reacted on social media to the passing of Betty White. The beloved “Golden Girls” actress, comedian and American icon died peacefully in her sleep at her home early Friday morning (December 31) at the age of 99. She was just weeks away from celebrating her 100th birthday on January 17.

“Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” her agent and close friend Jeff Witjas said in a statement. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.”

White was scheduled to celebrate her birthday with a once-in-a-lifetime movie event, “Betty White: 100 Years Young – A Birthday Celebration”. The producers behind the movie said it will be released as planned on White’s birthday on January 17.

“Our hearts mourn today with the passing of Betty White,” producers Steve Boettcher and Mike Trinklein said in a statement to ET. “During the many years we worked with her, we developed a great love and admiration for Betty as a person, and as an accomplished entertainer. We are thankful for the many decades of delight she brought to everyone. Betty always said she was the ‘luckiest broad on two feet’ to have had a career as long as she did. And honestly, we were the lucky ones to have had her for so long.”

“We will go forward with our plans to show the film on January 17 in hopes our film will provide a way for all who loved her to celebrate her life — experience what made her such a national treasure.”

The film will play in almost 900 movie theaters nationwide on Monday, January 17 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. (all times local). Tickets can be purchased online at www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices.

Damn. 2021 ending with the passing of the last living Golden Girl is an ominous sign. Rest east Betty White. Hope you and the girls share a cheesecake tonight.
— Laura Jane Grace (@LauraJaneGrace) December 31, 2021

No one lives forever but some of us should. Everyone’s favorite golden girl will always stay golden in our hearts. https://t.co/aIu6BGNAH5
— John Moyer (@JohnMoyerBass) January 1, 2022

What a bad ass she was ? #RIPBettyWhite pic.twitter.com/OVmErqOWZd
— Spencer Charnas (@spencerink) January 1, 2022

On behalf of all the animals to whom she loaned her voice, you will be missed. #rip #BettyWhite pic.twitter.com/Z4K3BzToBy
— Gloria Butler (@GloriaDeeButler) December 31, 2021

RIP Berry White ??❤️#bettywhite #rip #love @ San Francisco, California https://t.co/sbZkFTsOqz
— TheMelissaReese (@TheMelissaReese) December 31, 2021

RIP Queen Betty White. You were the greatest. #BettyWhite pic.twitter.com/yI6or3eXoF
— Todd Dammit Kerns (@todddammitkerns) December 31, 2021

I was really rooting for her to make it to ? #RIP Queen. ? https://t.co/r2gfc8rxFJ
— Gnudz fears democracy is in decline. ? (@TheGnudz) December 31, 2021

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JOURNEY performed last night (Friday, December 31) from New York City’s Times Square for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2022”. The show marked the 50th anniversary of America’s go-to annual New Year’s tradition that celebrates the year’s very best in music. The most-watched New Year’s Eve celebration nationwide which featured iconic performances of the year’s biggest songs aired live on ABC.

According to ABC, JOURNEY played “a special collection of notable and celebrated hits” at the event, which was hosted by 17-time host and executive producer Ryan Seacrest (with co-host Liza Koshy).

Also scheduled to perform were Avril Lavigne and Travis Barker (“Sk8ter Boi”, “Bite Me”) and MÅNESKIN (“Beggin'”, “Mamma Mia”), among others.

JOURNEY recently completed a month-long Las Vegas residency at The Theater at Virgin Hotels. Filling in on bass for JOURNEY for the six shows was Todd Jensen, a veteran musician who has played for various artists, including the bands SEQUEL, HARDLINE and HARLOW, as well as David Lee Roth, Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Perry, Alice Cooper and Paul Rodgers. Also part of JOURNEY’s current lineup is returning drummer Deen Castronovo, who shared the drum duties in the band earlier this year with Narada Michael Walden. Walden, bassist Randy Jackson and keyboardist/backing singer Jason Derlatka all joined JOURNEY last year following the band’s acrimonious split with drummer Steve Smith and bassist Ross Valory. Jackson — who previously played with JOURNEY during the mid-1980s — was forced to miss all the recent gigs because he is reportedly recovering from back surgery. Prior to the residency, Jackson had been replaced at JOURNEY’s 2021 shows by Marco Mendoza, who had played several shows in 2019 with Castronovo and JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon under the “Neal Schon’s Journey Through Time” banner.

In June, JOURNEY shared a new single, “The Way We Used To Be”. The song was the multi-platinum band’s first new music since 2011’s album “Eclipse”, and the first track released by the band’s revamped lineup. “The Way We Used To Be” marks Walden and Derlatka’s first studio recordings with the band, and Jackson’s first since 1986’s “Raised On Radio”. The song was produced by Narada Michael Walden at his Tarpan Studios, with co-production by Schon and Cain.

Since the group’s formation in 1973, JOURNEY has earned 19 top 40 singles, 25 gold and platinum albums, and has sold nearly 100 million albums globally. Their “Greatest Hits” album is certified 15 times-platinum, making JOURNEY one of the few bands to ever have been diamond-certified, and their song “Don’t Stop Believin'” has been streamed over one billion times alone.

JOURNEY was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017, and 2018’s co-headlining tour with DEF LEPPARD was the band’s most successful tour to date, landing them in the Top 10 year-end touring chart with more than 1 million tickets sold, and earning them the prestigious Billboard “Legends Of Live” touring award. March 2019 saw the release of “Escape & Frontiers Live In Japan”, a live DVD/CD set from their concert at the Budokan in Tokyo featuring the band’s first-ever performances of the albums “Escape” and “Frontiers” in their entirety. JOURNEY has also received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and were inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall Of Fame. Additionally, the band is the subject of the award-winning documentary “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey” about the band’s resurgence upon adding Arnel Pineda as lead singer after founding member Neal Schon discovered the Philippines native on YouTube.

JOURNEY will team up with Billy Idol and TOTO for a North American tour in February, March, April and May.

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In a recent interview with Chicago’s WXAV 88.3 FM radio station, former SEPULTURA frontman Max Cavalera reflected on the group’s groundbreaking 1996 album “Roots”, on which he and his bandmates collaborated with the Brazilian Xavante tribe.

“The ‘Roots’ record, which was heavily influenced [by] tribal music — the mix of tribal music and metal was a brand new thing, and we kind of went into a complete unknown territory when we did that, and the results were amazing,” he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “And we ended up getting praised by people like Dave Grohl [NIRVANA, FOO FIGHTERS] and Lemmy from MOTÖRHEAD, which was unreal to me to hear — my idols praising some of my stuff. It was pretty cool.

“If you do it with passion — you just have to have passion for what you’re doing — and sometimes you’ve gotta go into these unknown territories and just see what happens,” he continued. “And don’t be scared of it, don’t be afraid — just go for it. And sometimes you will fail, and sometimes you will not — sometimes it will be great. And sometimes it is controversial. And it’s okay. It’s not for everybody.

“Some people love ‘Roots’; some people hate ‘Roots’. Some people only like the old stuff. Some people want me to play like I did when I was 15. I can’t do that all the time. I try to bring a little bit of that into some stuff that I do, but I can’t just be that only. There’s much more to life than that.

“That’s what I think people don’t understand,” Max added. “Music is such a big landscape. There’s so much we can do with it. It’s endless. That’s what the cool thing about it is. There’s so much more you can explore and do different things with it. Why do the same thing over and over?”

“Roots”, along with 1993’s “Chaos A.D.”, is considered SEPULTURA’s most commercially successful release, having been certified gold in 2005 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for U.S. shipments in excess of 500,000 copies.

In a 2016 interview with Metal Hammer, KORN singer Jonathan Davis said that he felt “Roots” borrowed heavily from his own band. He said: “I thought [it] was a big compliment, but I also thought it] was fucked up. That was just a blatant KORN rip-off, and I had it out with producer Ross Robinson about that, because he just took our sound and gave it to SEPULTURA. My young brain couldn’t handle it. But they were one of our biggest influences, so I guess they get a pass. And that’s a classic album, so it’s all good.”

Later that same year, Max told the “Démentièllement Vôtre” show on Québec City’s CKRL 89.1 FM radio station that he disagreed with Davis’s assessment of “Roots”. “I don’t see it like that,” he said. “I think especially the sound of KORN, in my opinion, with the bass, is horrible. We didn’t have that; we had a lot of low end and things that the KORN album didn’t have. So I don’t see why he would be pissed off, because I don’t see that much of a [similarity] between the two of them. Plus, KORN wasn’t the only reason we wanted to work with Ross. He had done a FEAR FACTORY demo that I really liked and had a really raw sound. And he had done a DEFTONES song on the ‘Adrenaline’ album that I really liked.”

He continued: “Saying that is like saying SEPULTURA should be pissed off at CANNIBAL CORPSE because they used [producer] Scott Burns. I’m not pissed off at CANNIBAL CORPSE; I think they’re great. ‘Cause we were one of the first that used Scott Burns, we should be mad at all the bands that use Scott Burns? That’s childish. So he’s just really being childish. And I really don’t give a shit about KORN or anybody.

“We [were] very different from [KORN]; we have own way of playing and the songs are different. Everything is different. It’s just the same guy that recorded [both albums]; that’s the only similarity.”

Davis was featured as a guest on the “Roots” track “Lookaway” — along with Mike Patton of FAITH NO MORE.

In 1996, Max exited SEPULTURA after the rest of the band split with his wife Gloria as their manager.

In a new interview with Metal Global, Gary Holt discussed the fact that EXODUS is composed of members with different political ideologies. “We’re in one of the last of a dying breed — opposite ends of the political spectrum that still love each other and get along,” he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “If the whole world could be more like EXODUS, we’d be a lot better off. [Laughs]

“Three-fifths of EXODUS are conservatives and two-fifths are liberal, with one of them — me — being kind of a centrist; I’m kind of in the middle,” he continued. “And we’re still just brothers for life.

“You don’t argue politics and religion with people you disagree with; that’s what they always say. So, as a band, we don’t sit on the bus and start arguing about politics. We’d rather talk about UFO versus RAINBOW, which one is better.”

Back in April 2020, Holt spoke in more detail about the different political opinions within the EXODUS camp, telling the “No Fuckin’ Regrets With Robb Flynn” podcast: “Everybody knows I’m liberal on hella shit, but I’m also super conservative on hella shit too. And those are just my own opinions, and I leave them off my [social media] ’cause it starts a huge fight. People are, like, ‘Ah, liberal snowflake EXODUS.’ And I’m, like, motherfucker, three-fifths of EXODUS are Trump-loving Republicans — the majority of the band. Lee [Altus, guitar], Jack [Gibson, bass] and Zetro [Steve Souza, vocals] — it’s full-on.”

This past fall, Souza defended his past support of Donald Trump, telling Australia’s “Scars And Guitars” podcast that “gas has gone up a full dollar since he’s gone out of office” and “that nobody” in the current Biden administration is “really doing anything right now. I have not seen our government do anything; they’re just sitting back like they always do and just cruise. I thought [former U.S. president Barack] Obama did the same thing. He just got in office and, ‘I’m the president.’ ‘What are you doing today?’ ‘I’m just being the president. If something comes up, I’ll get with it.’ But I don’t see him getting out there. Fucking Trump, you heard his goddamn name every day, whether you liked it or not. He was trying to close up the borders and build a wall. People didn’t like that.

“Do you know, when I go to Australia or Mexico, I have to fucking get a visa to come into your countries. Why doesn’t anybody have to have a visa to come into my country? That’s bullshit. And that’s all [Trump] was trying to do. But people [said], ‘No, he’s a racist, and he doesn’t like Latin people.'”

Souza went on to say that he wasn’t always a dyed-in-the wool Republican. “Through my life — I’m 57 years old — and I’ve voted Democrat many, many times,” he said. “I vote for who the guy I think can do it. And over the last 10 years, I completely went right wing.”

Three years ago, Souza said that he supported then-President Donald Trump, explaining in an interview: “The economy in the United States… the unemployment is the lowest it’s ever been in the history of the United States. I think [Trump] making the attempt to go to meet [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un, I think that’s great — that’s what you need to do. People need to touch together, not do it through channels.”

In a 2016 interview, Holt ripped Trump, saying: “You can’t believe anything he says, ’cause he’s a serial liar… He won’t even condemn David Duke’s support. He pretended he doesn’t know who he is… That was your moment, Donald Trump, to say… you know, to condemn the man, basically, but you pretended you were just ignorant of who he was, ’cause you don’t wanna fuck with that vote. There are some fucking hillbillies out there who you want voting for you.”

Holt went on to say that he was “in many ways a Republican” but that he hadn’t been able to find “a candidate up there who wasn’t walked around on a leash by the Christian evangelicals, because they’re the death of the conservative movement anyway. And if they just stay out of women’s wombs and just actually concentrate on running a country and not being beholden to those people, I would vote Republican in a second.”

Holt added that he had had productive discussions about the political situation with his bandmates. “I know people, including my own bandmembers in EXODUS, who, you might not agree with them, but I’d love to see some uptight, metal-hating, I-know-everything-about-politics dude go up against Jack Gibson in an argument,” he said. “It might come to a draw. It’s a debate — like, if you disagree with him, you’re not gonna win — but he knows his fucking facts. And we’re not all idiots. We actually do know what’s going on in the world around us.”

EXODUS’s latest album, “Persona Non Grata”, was released on November 19 via Nuclear Blast Records.