PAPA ROACH’s “Scars” has been certified silver in the United Kingdom.

To earn a silver certification for a single in the U.K., PAPA ROACH had to sell 200,000 units of the song.

The platinum, gold and silver certifications awarded by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in recognition of sales milestones have included audio streaming data since June 2015, with 1,000 streams counting as one “sale.”

“Scars” is taken from PAPA ROACH’s album “Getting Away With Murder”, which was certified silver back in July 2013, approximately nine years after the LP’s release.

Only one other PAPA ROACH single has been certified in the U.K., with “Last Resort” going platinum in November 2018.

The official music video for “Scars”, which has been viewed 110 million times on YouTube, can be seen below.

PAPA ROACH capped another fruitful year in 2021, after celebrating the 20th anniversary of its landmark album “Infest” last year. Throughout the year, the band teased three new tracks from its forthcoming LP. The first track released to radio, “Kill The Noise”, just completed a four-week run at no. 1 on the Mainstream Rock chart. This follows “The Ending”, which peaked at no. 1 earlier this year (giving PAPA ROACH their ninth no. 1 single and mind-blowing 20th Top 5 single to date). 2021 also marks the band’s third Grammy nomination for the remix of “Born For Greatness” by Spencer Bastian a.k.a. CYMEK and the relaunch of the band’s own label, New Noize Records, in partnership with ADA Worldwide (WMG’s independent label and artist services arm). Capping the year off, the partnership has already achieved 100 million streams to date.

This past October, PAPA ROACH released a new single called “Dying To Believe”. The track, produced by WZRD BLD a.k.a. Drew Fulk (ICE NINE KILLS, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE), is a call for human unity and harmony, despite any differences people have.

“Dying To Believe” arrived weeks after the release of PAPA ROACH’s previous two singles: “Swerve”, which was a collaboration with FEVER 333 frontman Jason Aalon Butler and Los Angeles rapper Sueco; and “Kill The Noise”. All three tracks are expected to appear on PAPA ROACH’s upcoming eleventh studio album, due via the band’s own record company, New Noize Records, Inc., under exclusive license to ADA.

In January 2021, a snippet of a brand new PAPA ROACH song called “Stand Up” was included in commercial for Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) partnership with ESPN.

PAPA ROACH’s second greatest-hits collection, “Greatest Hits Vol. 2: The Better Noise Years”, was released in March on Better Noise Music. “Greatest Hits Vol. 2 – The Better Noise Years” includes 12 of the band’s top 10 hits released between 2010 to 2019 as well as three previously unreleased remixes and two unreleased acoustic recordings recorded live at the YouTube Studios in New York City.

PAPA ROACH’s latest album, “Who Do You Trust?”, was released in January 2019. The disc was produced by Nick “RAS” Furlong and Colin Cunningham except for the song “Top Of The World”, which was helmed by Jason Evigan.

In December 2020, PAPA ROACH released a five-song EP, “20/20”, featuring “new takes on old jams,” including “Last Resort” and “Scars”.

Members of HAKEN, DREAM THEATER, PROTEST THE HERO, CRADLE OF FILTH and INHUMAN CONDITION have ventured south of Lapland for a festive version of a SLAYER classic. “Seasons Greetings In The Abyss” combines the music of SLAYER’s “Seasons In The Abyss” with sleigh bell celebration, with alternate lyrics penned by artist and illustrator Dan Goldsworthy (ACCEPT, ALESTORM, SYLOSIS) and Charlie Griffiths of HAKEN, who also both take on guitar duties. Vocals are delivered by Canadian croon-maestro Rody “Angel Of Breath” Walker of PROTEST THE HERO and tuba (yes tuba!) is supplied by HAKEN drummer Ray “Nin Blood” Hearne. CRADLE OF FILTH’s Dani-el “Awaits” Firth and INHUMAN CONDITION drummer Jeramie “Klerry” Kling fill out the core-ensemble and special guest Jordan “Captor Of Synth” Rudess of DREAM THEATER shows no mercy with a face mashing keyboard solo.

Griffiths had this to say about the collaboration: “Injecting this song with some Christmas cheer worked better than any of us expected! Apparently [SLAYER guitarist] Jeff Hanneman loved Christmas, so hopefully he would approve of our tribute and I hope we help to spread some musical merriment during yet another Christmas of uncertainty in the pandemic abyss. Thanks to all the guys for joining in with the fun and to Scott Atkins for mixing! Eternal gratitude to the all the members of SLAYER and we wish everyone a Merrytory Yuletide!”

“Seasons In The Abyss” is the title track of SLAYER’s fifth studio album, which was released on October 9, 1990 through Def American Records.

In a brand new interview with Knotfest.com’s “Talk Toomey” podcast, DROWNING POOL guitarist C.J. Pierce said that he still marvels at the cultural impact of the band’s song “Bodies”. The lead single from DROWNING POOL’s debut album, “Sinner”, which came out in 2001, “Bodies” is the group’s most popular track which has been featured in various films, TV programs and advertisements since its release. The song remained DROWNING POOL’s highest charting single until “37 Stitches” premiered in fall of 2008.

“I have to say that was very unexpected,” Pierce said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “I appreciate it and I love it. Every time it comes up, I crack up. I’ve seen some really funny, crazy renditions of that song.

“It was just a song that came along naturally,” he explained. “We were rocking out in the room, drinking a couple of beers and writing what [we] feel. And the song ‘Bodies’ just took on a life of its own, man, and it keeps coming up and getting used for different stuff. It’s the ‘Jelly Of The Month Club’; it’s the gift that keeps giving.”

When asked if DROWNING POOL has ever received an offer to put “Bodies” in a commercial in a way that he and his bandmates deemed inappropriate, Pierce said: “It’s been in a few movies, which has been great. It’s been used in some promotional stuff. Never really any commercials like ‘let the bodies hit the floor,’ ‘Hey, the clothes are dirty. Wash ’em.’ I wouldn’t say no to that. It [would be] kind of funny. But just what everybody knows, what’s out there — mostly just people having their own fun with the song.”

He continued: “To be honest with you, man, I’ll sit around the house. I don’t know if other artists do this. I know some artists get weird about their single or what they’re known for, and they’re, like, ‘Oh, I hate that song. I don’t wanna play it live anymore,’ which is nuts to me. I love playing that song; I can’t wait to get to it. But I’ll sit around the house myself and I’ll bust out… I’ve got the mandolin over here and I’ll do just like a mandolin version of ‘Bodies’. I’ll do my own wacky versions of it ’cause it’s just a fun song to mess with.

“It’s still making new fans,” C.J. added. “People come up [to me and say], ‘Oh, man, I just heard that song ‘Bodies’ for the first time.’ [I’m, like] ‘You just heard it just now?’ But it’s cool that it keeps going. Obviously, we have other songs and other records, but I love that song. I can’t believe how far it’s come and how it keeps going.”

“Bodies” was DROWNING POOL’s first big hit back in 2001. The band’s original singer, Dave Williams, died that August of heart disease.

Despite being a huge rock radio smash, it was removed from radio playlists for a while later that year in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

“Bodies” was reportedly used by interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in 2003. It was repeatedly played over a 10 days period to “stress” Mohamedou Ould Slahi during interrogations while he was “exposed to variable lighting patterns” at the same time.

Three months ago, DROWNING POOL announced that its fall 2021 “Brothers In Arms” U.S. tour with ILL NIÑO and (HED)P.E. was being rescheduled for early 2022. The trek was scheduled to kick off on September 29 in Abilene, Texas and conclude on November 3 in Hidalgo, Texas.

More than two years ago, it was reported that DROWNING POOL had commenced the recording process for the follow-up to its 2016 album “Hellelujah”.

SAXON frontman Biff Byford has told Full In Blood in a new interview that he has made modest dietary changes in the two years after he suffered a heart attack and underwent an emergency triple bypass surgery. “A little bit,” he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “I don’t eat dairy anymore. I suppose I’ll eat an occasional piece of cheese, but I don’t eat dairy anymore because of the cholesterol level thing. But pretty much [everything] else, I haven’t really changed. We’ll have a veggie week some weeks where my wife will just put vegetarian food all week, which is a bit of a change, really, and it gets rid of toxic things in your body. But I haven’t really changed that much, to tell you the truth.”

The 70-year-old singer went on to say that he has added 16:8 intermittent fasting to his lifestyle, a type of dieting where people fast during a portion of the week and then eat on the other days. The 16:8 type of intermittent fasting involves eating only during a specific right-hour period each day.

“I will do that,” Biff said. “I mean, I did do that today, actually. I didn’t have lunch until 2 o’clock and I’ll eat dinner at 7:30 and then I try not to have anything else until the next day. So most of your fasting is done while you’re asleep; that’s how it’s supposed to work. What you try and do is eat all your meals in the eight hours. Don’t go stupid. And then if you go to bed at, say, 11 o’clock and get up at eight or seven, then you had nearly eight hours in bed. A lot of people do it. It’s quite positive. I think it’s a bit easier than some diets.

“If you don’t eat until the morning until quite late, you definitely feel a hit of energy,” he explained. “And you’re also quite hungry, so you appreciate the food [that you are eating]. Keeping to it is difficult sometimes, obviously. You want a glass of wine or you want a beer or something; you’re always being tempted with these things.”

According to Biff, he still drinks alcohol occasionally. “Oh, yeah,” he said. “A couple of glasses of wine some nights, it’s no problem. As long as you’re not drinking two bottles of wine, it’s fine.”

A year and a half ago, Byford described his heart attack to Planet Rock, saying “it wasn’t like a Hollywood heart attack, [where] you drop on the floor with your legs up in the air. I was biking, I was on my bike — I do a lot of biking and walking. And I was getting a bit breathless. And I went to the doctor. They sent me in to the hospital straight away. One of my arteries was getting blocked. They couldn’t get to it easily; it was risky. So they gave me a heart bypass. And so while they were in there, they did all three… So, yeah, they did all three. And then I came to, and that was it. I was really ill.”

A heart bypass surgery, or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, is used to improve blood flow to the heart. A surgeon uses blood vessels taken from another area of the body to bypass the damaged arteries.

The term triple bypass refers to the number of coronary arteries bypassed in the procedure. In other words, a triple bypass means three coronary arteries are bypassed.

SAXON will release its 23rd studio album, “Carpe Diem”, on February 4, 2022 via Silver Lining Music. The LP was produced by Andy Sneap (JUDAS PRIEST, EXODUS, ACCEPT) at Backstage Recording Studios in Derbyshire with Byford and Sneap mixing and mastering.

Santa’s not looking for cookies, so sweeten up his holiday with Hardywood’s killer Christmas Morning stout.
The post No Corporate Beer Reviews: Christmas Morning appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Former ICED EARTH singer Tim “Ripper” Owens says that Jon Schaffer will “pay for a long time” for his role in the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Owens, who joined ICED EARTH in 2003 and stayed in the group for four years before being fired in December 2007, addressed his time with the band in a new interview with “The Loaded Radio Podcast”.

Asked if he was surprised to see Schaffer involved in the Capitol riot, Owens said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I really lost contact [with him]. I didn’t leave on good terms. We weren’t friends when I left. I never burn bridges, but the way he fired me, the way he let me go, we never were on good terms.

“We never talked politics when I was in the band,” he continued. “I know when I was in ICED EARTH, I was a Democrat and he was a Republican at that time. And we never talked politics. He never talked politics — ever, ever — did he. But I just noticed when I did leave and seeing things that people talked about, I could see that something had changed with him from when I was in the band. But we never talked about things.

“I didn’t know what was going on with him and his personal life and his political stuff, so I didn’t follow him too much because we didn’t run in the same circles.

“Listen, he messed up,” Owens added. “In my opinion, you mess up… He’ll be paying for it for a long time. But I’m certain for Jon, I’m certain there’s still a lot of people out there buying his records, so he’s probably still paying the bills.”

Owens previously discussed Schaffer’s involvement in the Capitol riot a couple of days after the insurrection. Asked by a fan on Instagram what it was like “working with a terrorist,” Owens said: “crazy what he did wasn’t if. All I can say is wow. See we never talked politics while I was in ICED EARTH because at that time we where on totally opposite sides. LOL. But I gotta say could of been way worse for me I could of been in a Band with Sebastian Bach”.

When the fan expressed his incredulity over the fact that Owens and Schaffer never talked politics, especially considering the fact that Tim’s first album with ICED EARTH, “The Glorious Burden”, was a concept album exploring various moments in military history, the ex-JUDAS PRIEST frontman replied: “yea that was more of history and I actually learned a lot More then I did in school. Taking about politics at the time wasn’t something I would get into. Opposite sides of the fence and I was working! I got fired anyways so it didn’t matter. Haha”.

In a 2012 interview with Australia’s Loud, Owens said that his departure from ICED EARTH wasn’t executed properly. ‘It was handled poorly, I think, the situation,” he said. “It could’ve been handled good and everybody could’ve looked good in the situation. But it was handled poorly, I think… I started getting all the blame when things weren’t the same. Or things weren’t what Jon thought they could be. And then, of course, it all came down on me. None of the blame ever came down on Jon. I’m fine with that, but the funny thing is that nothing really changed when I left anyway. I read numbers and I talk to agents, and the crowds are the same or smaller now. I think it was also me wandering a bit, knowing that ICED EARTH was kind of like a solo project. It’s really Schaffer’s band, and I knew that. And I started having my own: I started doing BEYOND FEAR, and pushing BEYOND FEAR when probably I should have been talking about ICED EARTH. I think Jon read a lot of that and he read into it that my heart and soul wasn’t into ICED EARTH.”

Schaffer discussed Owens’s exit from ICED EARTH in a 2008 interview with Metal Exiles. At the time, he said: “Tim was great to work with in the studio, and from a standpoint of performing live, he was great as far as being an incredible vocalist, but he was not a true believer in this band. It was a job for him, and ICED EARTH is not about that… He was more interested in doing his solo thing — that was where his head was at — and it was becoming more and more obvious. This band was a means to an end for him.”

In April, Schaffer pleaded guilty to his role in the Capitol riot. As part of the plea deal, Jon entered into a cooperation agreement with the government.

Following the initial reports that Schaffer was involved in the riot, his ICED EARTH bandmates distanced themselves from his actions. Singer Stu Block and bassist Luke Appleton later posted separate statements on social media announcing their resignations. BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch also quit DEMONS & WIZARDS, his long-running project with Schaffer. The allegations also apparently affected Schaffer’s relationship with his longtime record label Century Media, which had released albums from both ICED EARTH and DEMONS & WIZARDS. As of mid-January, the Century Media artist roster page did not list either band.

Although Schaffer was initially charged with six crimes, including engaging in an act of physical violence and targeting police with bear spray, he pleaded guilty to only two charges: obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress; and trespassing on restricted grounds of the Capitol while armed with a deadly or dangerous weapon. The first charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while the second carries up to a 10-year prison term.

According to CNN, prosecutors and Schaffer’s attorneys agreed to recommend that he get between three and a half and four and a half years in prison, based on how fruitful his cooperation is with the government.

The government agreed not to oppose Schaffer’s release during the sentencing phase.

As part of the plea deal, Schaffer agreed to cooperate with investigators and potentially testify in related criminal cases, according to CNN. In return for Schaffer’s assistance, the Justice Department might later urge the judge to show leniency during his sentencing.

As part of the agreement, the Justice Department has offered to sponsor Schaffer for the witness protection program.

In a new interview with Metal Musikast, SOILWORK singer Björn “Speed” Strid spoke about the time more than a decade and a half ago when the Swedish metallers managed to secure an official endorsement from The Metal God himself, JUDAS PRIEST’s Rob Halford, who praised them as a band that is “taking metal forward with its cutting-edge [approach].”

“That’s just simply amazing,” Strid said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “I remember when I read that. ‘Cause somebody told me [about it]. They said, ‘Oh, have you seen that Rob Halford is talking about you in this Belgian metal magazine?’ I said, ‘What? No. No. Are you crazy? No. C’mon.’ Then he managed to… I don’t know — he picked it up somewhere, and then I got to read it. And I just lost it. I [said to him], ‘Can I take the magazine with me home?’ And [he said], ‘Yeah, yeah.’ I just went straight home and I cried for two hours because it was so overwhelming and so amazing, because he was, and still is, one of my absolute vocal heroes. It was just surreal to read that. I was, like, ‘He’s talking about my band. He’s talking about my voice. This is just nuts.’ Yeah, [it was] absolutely amazing.”

SOILWORK was formed in Helsingborg in 1995. Following two highly acclaimed albums, “Steel Bath Suicide” (1998) and “The Chainheart Machine” (1999) on Listenable Records, SOILWORK joined the Nuclear Blast roster in 2001. The band’s unique blend of melodic metal developed at a staggering rate as they released a new bombshell each year, touring aggressively throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Some of the highlights included Ozzfest alongside headliners BLACK SABBATH and IRON MAIDEN and an arena tour with LAMB OF GOD and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. Their latest release was an EP, “A Whisp Of The Atlantic”, featuring the 16-minute-title track.

Eric Clapton’s management has released a “clarification” regarding the musician’s lawsuit against a German widow after she posted a listing for a pirated version of his “Eric Clapton – Live USA” album for $11 on eBay.

Last week, Clapton won the lawsuit against the woman, who claimed she was unaware that her dead husband’s CD was pirated and removed the listing a day after posting it. The judge in the case said that the fact that she didn’t acquire the CD herself was irrelevant and ordered her to pay for both parties’ legal fees (about $3,900).

Now Clapton’s management has issued a statement to the guitarist’s fan club clarifying the 76-year-old’s role in the situation, as well as why they pursued legal action in the first place.

The statement reads as follows: “Given the widespread and often misleading press reports about a recent bootleg case involving a woman in Germany, the following provides clarification to set the record straight.

“Germany is one of several countries where sales of unauthorized and usually poor-quality illegal bootleg CDs are rife, which harms both the industry and purchasers of inferior product. Over a period of more than 10 years the German lawyers appointed by Eric Clapton, and a significant number of other well-known artists and record companies, have successfully pursued thousands of bootleg cases under routine copyright procedures.

“It is not the intention to target individuals selling isolated CDs from their own collection, but rather the active bootleggers manufacturing unauthorised copies for sale. In the case of an individual selling unauthorised items from a personal collection, if following receipt of a ‘cease and desist’ letter the offending items are withdrawn, any costs would be minimal, or might be waived.

“Eric Clapton’s lawyers and management team (rather than Eric personally) identifies if an item offered for sale is illegal, and a declaration confirming that is signed, but thereafter Eric Clapton is not involved in any individual cases, and 95% of the cases are resolved before going to Court.

“This case could have been disposed of quickly at minimal cost, but unfortunately in response to the German lawyers’ first standard letter, the individual’s reply included the line (translation): ‘feel free to file a lawsuit if you insist on the demands’. This triggered the next step in the standard legal procedures, and the Court then made the initial injunction order.

“If the individual had complied with the initial letter the costs would have been minimal. Had she explained at the outset the full facts in a simple phone call or letter to the lawyers, any claim might, have been waived, and costs avoided. However, the individual appointed a lawyer who appealed the injunction decision. The Judge encouraged the individual to withdraw the appeal to save costs, but she proceeded. The appeal failed and she was ordered to pay the costs of the Court and all of the parties.

“However, when the full facts of this particular case came to light and it was clear the individual is not the type of person Eric Clapton, or his record company, wish to target, Eric Clapton decided not to take any further action and does not intend to collect the costs awarded to him by the Court. Also, he hopes the individual will not herself incur any further costs.”

If the woman tries to sell the CD again, she could face a fine of $282,000 or six months in prison.

This past summer, Clapton made headlines when he announced he will no longer perform at any venues that require attendees to show proof of vaccination. The announcement came after U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson’s mandate that “vaccine passports” be required for entrance into nightclubs and venues.

Clapton previously criticized the lockdowns instituted around the world in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and stoked fear and conspiracy theories after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Clapton recounted his negative experience with the AstraZeneca shot, suggesting the side effects had been so “severe” that he was afraid that he would “never play again.” He also said he was inspired by another musician-turned-anti-vaccine activist, Van Morrison.