Shane Embury’s electronic ambient Dark Sky Burial has one last holiday present for you before we close the book on 2021.
The post Track Premiere: Dark Sky Burial – “Decay is the Matrix of Fertility” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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Former ANTHRAX and current ARMORED SAINT singer John Bush, who was offered an opportunity to join METALLICA in the early ’80s but turned it down, spoke about his decision in a new interview with Waste Some Time With Jason Green. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I’ve been talking about this for many years now. I’m always gonna be completely super flattered about the fact that I was asked to join METALLICA back in the early ’80s. It just was never meant to be my destiny, is what I always say. There’s no other singer that should have been the singer of METALLICA other than James Hetfield. That was meant to be, and that’s kind of the way I see it. Like I say, I’m always flattered that I’m always connected to the history of that band — it’s a huge feather in my cap, so to speak — but at the end of the day, it just was not my destiny to be the singer of METALLICA. I had a different fate in store.”

Bush also talked about joining METALLICA on stage on December 7, 2011 for the second of four intimate shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco as part of the week-long celebration of the band’s 30th anniversary as a band for fan club members only. “Yes, that was very cool,” he said. “That was an awesome experience. We did that at the Fillmore in San Francisco. It was the 30th-anniversary shows that METALLICA did, which were really, really cool. They had all these various guests coming on stage with them at the time — everyone from Ozzy [Osbourne] to King Diamond to Lou Reed to Marianne Faithful; a lot of people associated with METALLICA through the years. And ARMORED SAINT, we got to open for [METALLICA] that one particular show — one of the four — and then that was the day that I actually came on stage and sang ‘The Four Horsemen’ with them, which was an incredible experience. And the whole thing was really, really awesome — just a beautiful thing to be a part of. So I always have that as a great memory in my life. We had a couple of friends that were there that came with us, and my wife was there. And we had a lot of fun doing that. Like I said, I’m really flattered that METALLICA thought of me as a person that was good enough to be in their band. But, like I said, it just wasn’t meant to be something that happened for the rest of the band’s career.”

Anther singer who was being considered for the frontman position in METALLICA was Jess Cox of Newcastle, England’s TYGERS OF PAN TANG.

Bush later said in an interview: “METALLICA did ask me to join, but I said no for all the right reasons. People must think that’s crazy, but you have to remember the scene then. METALLICA was nobody. ARMORED SAINT was hot; you have to remember that. Also, I was very tight with the [ARMORED SAINT] guys, back to elementary school in fact. ARMORED SAINT was getting interest from all kinds of places, and we had a lot of people starting to turn up at shows.”

He continued: “METALLICA came to see SAINT at a gig in Anaheim, at The Woodstock in 1982. I heard they were interested in asking me to join, which they did later. The thing was that METALLICA was this new kind of thing, and nobody back then. I don’t care what they say now; nobody could have predicted what would happen. I didn’t know the guys either, so there was no real interest. It was great to be asked — in fact, a lot of people asked — but ARMORED SAINT was really strong.

“Some time after ‘Kill ‘Em All’ had come out, I heard the same thing again, but I never understood that because James was singing great then and he was doing a great job. I understood the lack of confidence back in ’82 but not for ‘Ride The Lightning’. James owns that record.”

In a 1989 interview with Metal Forces, drummer Lars Ulrich talked about what METALLICA could have sounded like had Bush ended up fronting the group. He said: “Only a couple of days ago, we were actually sitting around talking about how it would be now if John Bush had joined the band. Obviously, it’s impossible to know how different it would have been, but I can’t imagine METALLICA without James Hetfield up there growling into the microphone, fucking curved over and everything. It’s really weird to think about it. I mean, nothing against John Bush — I think he’s a great vocalist — but … Well, thank God it didn’t happen.”

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In a recent interview with “The Mistress Carrie Podcast”, John 5 agreed with the often-repeated claim that the vast majority of a guitarist’s tone comes from his or her playing technique, not their gear.

“I believe that the tone really comes from your hands and just how your hands hit those strings and how they press down on those strings and strike that guitar,” the former MARILYN MANSON and current ROB ZOMBIE guitarist said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

“Eddie Van Halen was saying, he was, like, ‘If [I] pick up an acoustic guitar and I play it, it’s gonna sound like Eddie Van Halen,’ and then if I pick it up, it’ll sound like myself. It’s just in your hands, in your DNA.

“I picked up Eddie’s guitar at rehearsal and played through his rig, but it just sounded like me playing through a different guitar rig,” John 5 said. “So it’s just in somebody’s hands. I would talk to Eddie about that, and he says, ‘[It’s] just in your hands.’ And he would always say that. And just thought that was so interesting. And it’s true, because you can go play on anybody’s rig but it’ll still sound like you.

“It’s funny because they sell the Eddie Van Halen amps and pedals and all that stuff, but you’re still gonna sound like you. I mean, his products are incredible — that’s why they sell ’em, because they’re great, great amps and pedals — but you’re not gonna sound like Eddie Van Halen. It’s your DNA. It’s how you play.”

John 5 went to detail the differences between Eddie Van Halen’s playing technique and his own, saying: “Eddie would play and he would press down so hard, hit so hard that… His guitar tech was my guitar tech; my guitar tech was his guitar tech for a little while. And he said he would have to tune it a little out of tune because he would press down so hard. But with me, it’s different ’cause I hit so light. It’s like if you ever see a violinist, they’re just doing it so light. And that’s how I play; I just play it at such a light touch. And one time on this last tour I broke a string, and it was, like, ‘Oh my God. I can’t believe this guy broke a string.’ It was a jaw-dropping moment because I play so light.”

John 5 previously discussed his friendship with Eddie Van Halen during an appearance on SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” one day after the legendary guitarist’s passing. At the time, he said: “We all knew that Eddie was not well, but he’s like our Superman. [We all thought] ‘Eddie’s gonna be fine. We saw him at the TOOL concert. He’s gonna beat this. Everything’s gonna be fine. He’s our Superman.’ And when that news hit, I was talking to Fred Coury [CINDERELLA], and I said, ‘I’ve gotta go.’ I just hung up and I had to pull over on the freeway. I just couldn’t believe it. I was just shocked. It’s just the worst news — the worst. Because we listened to him every day; we saw his picture every day; he’s been a part of our lives since the late ’70s, and now he’s gone. But he changed the world forever, that’s for sure.”

John 5, who got his first big break playing on David Lee Roth’s solo album, “DLR Band”, before landing stints with Manson and now Zombie, said that he first learned of Eddie’s declining health from the VAN HALEN singer.

“I talked to Roth a while ago, and he was, like, ‘Yeah, Eddie’s not doing well,'” John 5 recalled. “And I remember I’m sitting there at his place, and I started to well up, I was starting to tear up. I was, like, ‘Okay, get ahold of yourself.’ Because that’s you hearing it from someone that’s close to Ed. I was, like, ‘All right. Keep it together.’ Because I was shocked. I was, like, ‘Oh my God. This can’t be.'”

John 5 confirmed that he knew Eddie personally after first meeting the VAN HALEN guitarist nearly three decades ago.

“I didn’t really talk about it that much,” he said. “But I talked to Ed on the phone quite a bit. We would just sit on the phone for a long time. I don’t really talk about this, but we’d sit on the phone and chit-chat for a long time, and tell stories and talk about guitars and talk about bands, and it was always positive.”

“I think I met him the first time in ’93 through Robert Knight, the photographer. It was kind of nice contact — ‘Hello, how are you?’ — at events and stuff. But then it got a little closer when I started playing with Dave and Manson and everything. But yeah, he gave me a guitar; I gave him one of mine. We were pretty close — not super, super close like I am with Dave or Mike [Anthony] or something like that. But he knew — I would just always tell him how much he meant to me and how much he meant to a zillion other guitar players.”

Elaborating on what made Eddie’s guitar playing so special, John said: “The thing about Ed is — which people that don’t play guitar don’t understand this — he looked at the instrument different, just like [Apple co-founder] Steve Jobs would look at a computer different or anything else; [American inventor Thomas] Edison would look at something different. And that’s what was so special, and that’s why we have lost such a giant, such an important figure in music.

“I would go down to the VAN HALEN rehearsal and I would pick up his guitar and play through his rig, and I would sound nothing like Eddie Van Halen even if I played a VAN HALEN song,” he explained. “And that’s the difference, because it’s what’s inside you. It’s those hands; it’s that feel. It’s like trying to describe the color blue. It’s a feeling, and it’s something you have. And I don’t know if we’ll ever have that again — ever.”

A previously unreleased video of John 5 performing a cover of VAN HALEN’s version of “You Really Got Me”, featuring VAN HALEN’s Michael Anthony on bass, SLIPKNOT’s Corey Taylor on vocals and CINDERELLA’s Fred Coury on drums, can be seen below.

Eddie died in October 2020 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California.

The iconic VAN HALEN axeman died from complications due to cancer, his son confirmed.

Eddie and Alex formed VAN HALEN in 1972 in Pasadena, California, with Roth on lead vocals and Anthony on bass.

VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Eddie Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.

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We lost our modern day Mozart today Eddie Van Halen. There’s no one that changed my life or influenced me more than Eddie, he was an inventor an amazing songwriter and the greatest guitar player that ever lived. R.I.P my friend. #eddievanhalen #rip
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San Francisco Bay Area legends BLIND ILLUSION have released a music video for the song “Straight As The Crowbar Flies”. The clip was produced by BLIND ILLUSION and directed by George Anderson and BLIND ILLUSION’s founding lead guitarist and vocalist Marc Biedermann. “Straight As The Crowbar Flies” is the first single from BLIND ILLUSION’s upcoming third studio album, “Wrath Of The Gods”, which will be released next year via Hammerheart Records.

Biedermann says: “This is our first-ever official music video. Believe it or not, ‘Straight As The Crowbar Flies’ is the story of an event that actually happened to me. Someone hurled a crowbar at me and (luckily) they missed. The lyrics and the video bring the story into a fantasized spiritual realm and a humorous one at that.”

BLIND ILLUSION’s current lineup features Biedermann along with Tom Gears (bass), Doug Piercy (guitar; ex-HEATHEN) and Andy Galeon (drums; ex-DEATH ANGEL).

“Straight As The Crowbar Flies” brings BLIND ILLUSION’s thrash roots into the modern day.

“Wrath Of The Gods” track listing:

01. Straight As The Crowbar Flies
02. Slow Death
03. Protomolecule
04. Spaced
05. Wrath Of The Gods
06. Behemoth
07. Lucifers Awakening
08. Amazing Maniacal Monolith
09. No Rest Till Budapest

“We’re really proud of ‘Wrath Of The Gods’,” says Gears. “Andy has been an amazing addition and he fits right in. The new album will make you want to headbang your way all the way to the record store. We even put out a limited-edition BLIND ILLUSION cannabis brand available at select California dispensaries so you can feel the ‘wrath of the gods’ when you listen to the album.”

Formed in 1979 by Biedermann, BLIND ILLUSION had an extremely unstable lineup (Biedermann being the only constant member) and went through a few stylistic changes in its early years.

BLIND ILLUSION’s debut studio album, “The Sane Asylum”, was released in 1988.

After leaving BLIND ILLUSION, bassist Les Claypool and guitarist Larry LaLonde went on to form the alternative psychedelic funk metal band PRIMUS.

Biedermann reformed BLIND ILLUSION in 2009 and in July 2010 the band released its sophomore album, “Demon Master”.

Guido Heijnens, owner of Hammerheart Records, commented: “When I was young and got involved into more extreme kinds of metal, my first love was, of course, thrash metal. Soon my world was filled with sounds made by METALLICA, MEGADETH, ANTHRAX and SLAYER. And, of course, thrash metal from Germany and thrash metal from the Bay Area. The Bay Area sound provided me with albums from TESTAMENT, VIO-LENCE, HEATHEN, EXODUS and also BLIND ILLUSION and their great 1988 album ‘The Sane Asylum’.

“Fast forward to 2021 then. BLIND ILLUSION sends the recordings of ‘Wrath Of The Gods’ to Hammerheart Records and what is delivered is a logical follow-up to ‘The Sane Asylum’… thinking man’s thrash metal, old school in vibe and full of the genre’s trademarks. So both band and label decide to join forces. In early 2022 Hammerheart Records will release ‘Wrath Of The Gods’ and reissue ‘The Sane Asylum’ at the same time (with a bonus disc full of ’80s demos).

“Expect Bay Area thrash metal: great riffs, killer solos and a solid foundation laid by bass and drums. More details on the exact formats will follow along the way.”

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METALLICA’s music was streamed 1.3 billion times on Spotify in 2021. This marks the third year in a row that the band’s songs were played more than a billion times on the digital music service in a 12-month period.

The heavy metal legends’ social media revealed their latest streaming feat on Friday (December 31), adding that “With all the ups and downs of 2021, one thing remained consistent – you listened to a lot of METALLICA on @spotify! Just when we thought you couldn’t possibly listen to any more, you went and proved us wrong. Clocking in at 112.2M hours of streaming, we were the top artist for 1M of you! Honestly, we don’t even know what to say. But a massive THANK YOU, ‘TALLICA FAMILY feels pretty appropriate right about now. Happy New Year to you all; we’ll see ya in 2022! #2021ArtistWrapped”.

Back in December 2012, METALLICA made the first nine of its studio albums, as well as various live material, singles, remixes and collaborations, available for the first time on Spotify. The move was significant because Sean Parker, who co-founded Napster, later sat on the board of Spotify. METALLICA waged a battle with Napster more than a decade earlier over the illegal sharing of the band’s music, which resulted in both legal action and a battered public image for the band.

At the press conference in New York announcing the Spotify deal on December 6, 2012 Parker and METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich appeared together and seemingly buried the hatchet. Ulrich said, “When [Parker] and I saw each other a few months ago. We could see that we had been put down as adversaries. We realize we had much more in common and sitting down was long overdue . . . We were younger, maybe somewhat more ignorant. We sat down and had a heart to heart.”

In a statement at its web site, METALLICA said, “We are extremely proud to be a part of Spotify, who not only has a proven track record, but is by far the best streaming service.”

METALLICA is able to make these deals directly since, as of 2012, the band has complete control over the master tapes of all its audio and video recordings. The band has also launched its own label, Blackened Recordings.

METALLICA’s two 40th-anniversary concerts were held at San Francisco’s Chase Center on December 17 and December 19. The two shows featured different setlists. They were part of METALLICA’s “San Francisco Takeover”, a four-day citywide celebration of the band’s 40th anniversary that also included a film festival, photo exhibit and curated lineup of smaller venue shows featuring other acts.

Formed in 1981 by guitarist/vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, METALLICA has become one of the most influential and successful rock bands in history, having sold nearly 120 million albums worldwide and generating more than 2.5 billion streams while playing to millions of fans on literally all seven continents. The band’s several multi-platinum albums include “Kill ‘Em All”, “Ride The Lightning”, “Master Of Puppets”, “… And Justice For All”, “Metallica” (commonly referred to as The Black Album), “Load”, “Reload”, “St. Anger”, “Death Magnetic” and “Hardwired… To Self-Destruct”, released in November 2016 and charting at No. 1 in 32 countries.

METALLICA’s awards and accolades include nine Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, multiple MTV Video Music Awards, and its 2009 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In June of 2018, the band was awarded one of the most prestigious musical honors in the world: Sweden’s Polar Music Prize.

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DISTURBED singer David Draiman has taken up a social media challenge dubbed the IDF Shirt Challenge which encourages people to post photos of themselves wearing Israel Defense Forces shirts in solidarity with two men who were allegedly victims of an antisemitic attack in Brooklyn, New York. Blake Zavadsky and Ilan Kaganovich were allegedly called “dirty Jews” on Sunday (December 26) before one of them was punched in the face for sporting an IDF sweatshirt.

“Jews are being attacked on the streets of the major cities of the United States on a regular basis right now, but it almost seems like a near-daily occurrence in New York,” Draiman told The Jerusalem Post. “I was born in Brooklyn where those two young gentlemen were attacked, in Maimonides hospital in Flatbush. My father was in the IDF, my grandfather was in the IDF. They helped keep Am Yisrael safe, as the IDF does to this day. They keep the thousands of direct and indirect relatives I have in Eretz Yisrael safe and risk their lives to do so every day.”

David added: “I will not stand idle while they are demonized, and I will not be silent in the face of those who long for us to go back to the days of being the ‘fearful, groveling Jew.'”

New York’s 48th District councilwoman Inna Vernikov has tweeted a call to march against antisemitism. The march will take place on Sunday, January 2 at noon and will begin at the spot on 86th Street where the two men were attacked. People are encouraged to show up in their own IDF hoodies.

“I wish I could fly out there myself,” Draiman said. “I encourage everyone to mask up and get out there with their IDF t-shirts on. Or, just post a pic of yourself for the #IDFshirtChallenge to your social media.”

According to the New York Post, Zavadsky and Kaganovich, both 21, were in a shoe shop in Bay Ridge when two attackers allegedly approached them.

“They asked us what we were doing in their neighborhood,” Zavadsky told the New York Post.

Zavadsky, who was sporting an Israel Defense Forces sweatshirt, said the pair took particular issue with his hoodie.

“The one who punched me said if I don’t take my sweatshirt off, he’s going to rock me,” Zavadsky said.

“‘How can you support these dirty Jews?'” Zavadsky said the man allegedly asked.

When he refused, he got punched twice in the face and doused in iced coffee.

The NYPD said the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

Last week, Draiman said that he had lost thousands of social media followers since publicizing his trip to Israel in November.

On November 30, Draiman lit a candle at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel at the Old City site of the terror attack that killed South African immigrant Eli Kay.

At the time, Draiman, who is Jewish, took to his Instagram to share a few photos of his appearance, and included the following message: “A truly wonderful experience. Thanks so much to everyone who came out!”

On December 24, Draiman returned to Instagram to lament the fact that thousands of his fans had apparently taken offense to his decision to share pro-Israel content on his page and had unfollowed him on the platform.

He wrote: “Here’s food for thought.

“Before my recent trip to Israel, I hadn’t used my Instagram account since the DEVICE experiment. It was at 87k followers. I used it again specifically to make my trip and demonstration at the western wall public.

“Since the pictures of my trip and the demonstration were posted, I’m now down 4K followers.

“AND I’D DO IT AGAIN IN A HEARTBEAT.

“Very telling isn’t it? #AmYisraelChai”.

A week prior to his visit to Jerusalem, Draiman told The Jerusalem Post that he wanted to make a statement by coming to Israel after seeing the coverage of the attack in which a Hamas gunman opened fire on pedestrians in the Old City.

“The coverage was reprehensible in the vast majority of American and European media,” Draiman said. “It’s scandalous how they presented it. Headlines like ‘Palestinian shot dead.’ Well, why was the Palestinian shot dead? Because he was perpetrating a terrorist attack. I love how the context is always flipped around.”

Although David — who has some 200 relatives living in Israel — had visited the country many times before, DISTURBED’s July 2019 show in Tel Aviv was the band’s first performance in the Jewish state. Draiman addressed the crowd in Hebrew at many points during the show at Live Park Rishon LeZion and sang the Israeli national anthem “Hatikvah”. Draiman proudly displayed his IDF t-shirt during the concert and at one point declared: “This is for all the IDF soldiers.”

DISTURBED’s song “Never Again”, from 2010’s “Asylum” album, was written about the Holocaust and calls out people who deny it.

The Tel Aviv show marked the first time DISTURBED performed “Never Again” since 2011.

Both of Draiman’s maternal grandparents were survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, while many others on his mother’s side were wiped out by the Nazis.

The United States Holocaust Museum has featured Draiman in its “Voices On Anti-Semitism” podcasts.

In recent years, Draiman spoke out against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which calls for economic pressure on Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian land, grant Arab citizens equal rights and recognize the right of return to Palestinian refugees.

Nearly two and a half years ago, Draiman spoke to KAN radio, where he called BDS advocates “idiots” and “Nazis in suits.”

Draiman has in the past battled with Twitter trolls who have harassed him about his sometimes-controversial views regarding Israel and its ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. Draiman has had frequent heated exchanges with followers on Twitter, some of whom believe that Israel is not blameless in the ongoing conflict with Palestinians.

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Jack Osbourne, the 36-year-old son of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, is engaged to his girlfriend of over two years, Aree Gearhart.

Osbourne broke the news of the engagement in an Instagram post on Thursday (December 30). “Today I asked the most beautiful and loving woman I’ve ever met to marry me. She said yes!!” he captioned a selfie of himself and his fiancée.

“Life is a series of doors and I’m so excited to walk through this one with her. She’s truly a magical being with a heart bigger than anything I could have imagined,” Osbourne continued, adding, “Her step-mom skills make my heart so full. I couldn’t be happier than I am right now.”

Gearhart, who is an interior designer, shared the same photo on her Instagram and wrote: “Today my best friend asked me to marry him in a magical winter wonderland,” the interior designer sweetly captioned the photo. I’ll love you forever and then some @jackosbourne. my soulmate, my adventure partner, my protector. i’m ready for forever w you + our tribe.”

Sharon congratulated the couple, writing, “Ozzy and I couldn’t be happier and more proud of our son Jack’s engagement to Aree Gearhart. We are so blessed to have Aree as part of our family and we wish them a lifetime of love, light and happiness.”

Jack’s sister Kelly captioned a photo of her and Gearhart on her Instagram Story, “We are family.” She also commented on Gearhart’s photo of her and her brother, writing, “I’m so so so beyond happy!!! Now we really are sisters!!!! I love you so much. Welcome to the family!!!!”

Jack was previously married to Lisa Stelly from 2012 to 2019. They share three daughters together, Pearl, 9, Andy, 6, and Minnie, 3.

Jack and Aree went public with their relationship in November 2019 when they attended the American Music Awards together.

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KISS drummer Eric Singer joined his former bandmate, ex-KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick, during Bruce’s concert last night (Thursday, December 30) at Count’s Vamp’d in Las Vegas, Nevada. Singer was filling in for Kulick’s regular drummer Brent Fitz who was apparently unable to make the gig because he contracted COVID-19.

Kulick’s group, which also features singer and guitarist Todd Kerns and bassist and singer Zach Throne, performed mostly songs from Kulick’s 1980s and 1990s KISS era.

The setlist was as follows:

01. Creatures Of The Night
02. Unholy
03. Uh! All Night
04. Domino
05. Heaven’s On Fire
06. Watchin’ You
07. Tears Are Falling
08. I Love It Loud
09. Detroit Rock City
10. King Of The Night Time World
11. God Gave Rock And Roll To You
12. Forever
13. War Machine
14. Jungle
15. Paralyzed
16. I Just Wanna
17. Spit
18. Star Spangled Banner
19. Crazy Crazy Nights
20. Turn On The Night

Kulick and his band previously played two shows aboard the 10th edition of the Kiss Kruise.

“I am definitely glowing with pride over what me and my band put together, and I will go on record saying that it’s not easy to do that material,” Kulick told Ultimate Classic Rock in November. “But I’m always striving to do the work that I know the fans will love. I’m devoted to giving that experience to the fans. Who better to keep the ’80s and ’90s KISS alive than me? And that’s my goal, and I have the right guys to do it with and certainly enough material to make the fans extremely happy and grateful.”

Kulick also explained his decision to tackle 1980s KISS material that he wasn’t originally involved with, such as “Creatures Of The Night”, the title cut of the 1982 album which was KISS’s last effort recorded with Ace Frehley credited as an official member and their first LP with Vinnie Vincent as the initially uncredited lead guitarist.

“When it was first brought up to me by Brent, I was kind of, like, wait a minute, I think I know this song, and it’s a good one, but what does it have to do with me?” Kulick recalled. “But then I saw the enthusiasm from Todd and Zach, and I thought, Yeah, that would be a strong and surprising opener. I was reading all the fan comments, and when I see them all herald the fact that I’m the one to keep the ’80s and ’90s alive, then why not go into ‘Lick It Up’? Why not look at ‘Creatures Of The Night’? There’s no harm in it, but I certainly don’t need to do ‘Cold Gin’ or ‘Detroit Rock City’.”

Bruce joined KISS in 1984, and accompanied the band on the “Animalize” tour and continued with them until the reunion tour. Bruce is heavily featured on “Kissology – Vol. 2” and “Vol. 3”, the band’s DVDs spanning their historic four-decade-plus career.

Earlier this year, Kulick spoke to Rockin’ Metal Revival about how the band’s reunion with Peter Criss and Ace Frehley for an episode of MTV’s “Unplugged” in 1995 paved the way for a KISS tour that would exclude him and drummer Eric Singer.

“[KISS’s official] convention tour [in 1995, where Criss rejoined KISS for two songs in a surprise appearance] was what triggered the opportunity for ‘Unplugged’, but, quite honestly, it also was the catalyst for the reunion tour, which meant the end of my [time with the band],” Kulick said. “That’s the bittersweet [part about it]. Now, you’ve gotta remember, those guys [Ace and Peter] were always, like, ‘Hey, I’d love to be back in the band,’ this kind of thing. Or, ‘What do you think about a reunion?’ And I don’t think Gene and Paul [Stanley] really cared to entertain that until the ‘Unplugged’ thing came around and MTV really wanted those guys involved. And then, all of a sudden, people were interested; promoters were throwing big offers to the guys. So it was kind of weird. Eric Singer and I, in January of ’96 is when we were told that they were gonna make the announcement at the Grammys, or something, the next month, and we were finishing ‘Carnival Of Souls’. So it really was a weird time of my life and everything.”

Bruce remains philosophical about his exit from KISS, saying it had nothing to do with his ability or the chemistry he had with the rest of the band.

“I wasn’t not going to be in KISS because I didn’t play well enough or I didn’t get along with the guys; it was purely a business thing,” he said. “I always like to say sometimes that it seems like ‘Star Wars’ went away for a long time, and then, 20 years later, all of a sudden, the franchise retools and there’s more ‘Star Wars’ movies. So the makeup KISS, it was time for that to come back, and, as you know, the numbers don’t lie — they did tremendous business. That might have been the end of me actually being in the band, but my connection to the band’s been very strong all these years.”

“Carnival Of Souls” was recorded in 1995 but wasn’t released until 1997, under the title “Carnival Of Souls: The Final Sessions”. There was no accompanying tour to support the album, and none of the songs on “Carnival Of Souls” have ever been performed live by KISS.

Back in 1996, Gene called “Carnival Of Souls” “the heaviest disc we’ve done,” and Paul called it “arguably our best studio album in the last 10 years.”

BRUCE KULICK M&G, Eric Singer will be on drum’s tonight,as Brent Fitz has Covid unfortunately

Posted by Adrian Poole on Thursday, December 30, 2021

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A Ludwig 12-piece drum set made for and owned by late KISS drummer Eric Carr is being sold via Reverb. The set comes with a certificate of authenticity from the Eric Carr estate.

In the Reverb listing, the seller of the Carr kit writes: “While I was playing in a KISS tribute band in 2005, my dream came true when I bought this kit from Paul Orofino, one of Eric’s closest friends and the one who recorded Eric’s audition demo tape for KISS. Paul told me Eric gifted him this drum set, Simmons pads and, I believe, his chrome Chikara set, and Eric had it sent freight right after his video shoot for ‘God Gave Rock ‘N’ Roll To You II’ song by KISS, from Los Angeles to Paul’s recording studio in Milbrook, NY. Paul said he recorded albums by BLUE ÖYSTER CULT and other popular bands with some of the drums from this set.”

Carr replaced Peter Criss in KISS in 1980 and made his recording debut with the band on 1981’s “Music From ‘The Elder'” album. His final recording with KISS was “God Gave Rock And Roll To You II”. His last public appearance before his death was at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 1991.

Carr contributed his talent to the bands many gold and platinum albums during his tenure, and can be heard on the band’s many hit songs from the 1980s, including “Lick It Up”, “Heaven’s On Fire”, “Crazy Nights”, “Tears Are Falling” and “Forever”, to name a few. In addition to his musical contributions, Carr was equally known for his inviting personality and genuine love for the fans. From the time he joined the band to this very day, Carr remains one of the most beloved members of the KISS family.

Carr died on November 24, 1991 of a rare heart cancer. He was 41.

Back in 2011, on the 20th anniversary of Eric’s passing, KISS frontman Paul Stanley stated about Carr: “At a time when KISS was in the midst of upheaval and turmoil, Eric brought calm and an optimism that refocused our priorities so we could move forward. I can’t overstate his contribution to our rebirth. His dedication to his music was only matched by his dedication to his fans. He was a kind soul who couldn’t say an unkind word about anyone and I think of him all the time.”

Added KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons: “I never knew anyone more humble in my life. Eric Carr was a kind soul who never said anything bad about anybody. He was also a double threat on drums, and vocals. I miss him.”

As previously reported, an official Eric Carr documentary, backed by the late KISS drummer’s family, is in the works.

In 2000, MVD Visual released an Eric Carr documentary called “Inside The Tale Of The Fox: The Eric Carr Story”. The 120-minute documentary, directed by Jack Edward Sawyers, included extra footage, outtakes, pictures and interviews, as well as previously unreleased music written and performed by Eric from his pre-KISS and KISS days, plus interviews with Bill Aucoin, Bruce Kulick, Carrie Stevens, members of SLAUGHTER, Fred Coury, and more.

Carr was inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame on September 12 via a free livestream event hosted by Cathy Rankin.

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